Hari's Tale
by BlackWolfHowling
Summary: While returning home from a round of shard hunting, Inuyasha and the other meet a half-demon named Hari. After a rocky first impression, she redeems herself at least slightly by saving Kagome's life and sheltering her during a snow storm. Join her as she travels with Inuyasha's group and learns to open herself to others.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: So after... a month? more? of fighting this story, I'm finally just giving in and writing it. Though in all honesty it's less a story and more a collection of interconnected one-shots. So while you do have to read the previous one-shots for the story as a whole to make sense, by and large with maybe one or two exceptions, the one-shots won't be directly related, at most simply referencing previous chapters. I suppose the only one you really _have_ to read for the entire thing to make sense is this chapter when the story as a whole is done as it introduces the OC. While this is about the OC, I will try to stay true to cannon, meaning that this takes place 'in-between' episodes. So the OC will not be a character in any major battles *cough*Naraku*cough* or anything like that. I am working my way through the manga, but as the only thing I have finished is the anime, I'll probably be closer to that as far as cannon accuracy goes. Ah, one final note of import. I'm not actually certain how long, canonically, the series takes. All that is really known for certain is that it starts when Kagome is 15, and the entire show takes place while she is in Junior High. For the sake of the story, however, I'm going to assume that it takes her through sixteen. The story takes place while she's still fifteen, and in this particular segment, it's winter (I promise you'll see really quickly why the season is relevant)._

_Disclaimer: I own my OC and that's about it._

* * *

Inuyasha and the others had just had a very lengthy session of shard hunting and were heading back to the well so Kagome could try and catch up on her school work as well as spend time with her family. Instead of retracing their steps back to Kaede's village, they were taking a more circuitous route in the hopes of collecting more jewel shards. Having spotted a village in the distance, they were all silently, or in Kagome's case not-so-silently, celebrating the fact that, for the night at least, they would have a roof over their heads. Despite the heavy clothing Kagome had brought from her time, the winter was extremely cold, and they were grateful to have shelter from the wind.

Just outside the village, Miroku had stopped and was talking to a woman about Sango's age.

"Pardon me. I was wondering if you would do me the great honor of bearing my child." The woman was blushing and had started to answer, but had barely gotten out three words before Miroku was roughly slammed into from the left by a fast-moving blur. He found himself pressed against a tree and being held a few feet off the ground by the throat by a clawed hand, five pinpricks of blood bubbling forth from under her fingers. The source of this attack was another woman. If her black ears and tail were anything to judge, she was a wolf half-demon, and judging from the angry snarls ripping from her throat, she took exception to Miroku's questioning of the first woman. She wore the typical wolf demon outfit, with a black wolf pelt perhaps slightly longer than what the other wolf demons they had seen around her waist and similar to Ayame, had a second pelt around her shoulders, again, perhaps slightly larger than the one Ayame wore. Unlike the other wolf demons, however, under the pelts was clothing that looked almost exactly like Sango's demon slaying uniform without the sleeves. Also unlike the other wolf demons, she lacked the foot wrappings, having bare feet like Inuyasha. At her side was an unsheathed dagger, and she had a necklace that was little more than two dark colored beads surrounding a fang of some sort on a string.

"Hari! Hari, let him go this instant!" Aside from one of her ears swiveling in the screaming girl's direction, the half-demon gave no indication that she heard. A snarl from Inuysha, however, did get her attention, causing her to turn eyes slightly darker than his own in his direction. She glanced over the rest of the party briefly, taking note of Sango's tight grip on her Hiraikotsu, Kagome's worried stance, flicking her eyes briefly in puzzlement to the bow and arrows on the girl's back and wondering why they weren't being readied, Shippo's trembling, but still fighting stance, and lastly on Inuysha's hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it in an instant if needed.

For a long moment, no one moved, and the only sounds were the growls rumbling from the throats of the two half-demons. The stalemate was broken by Hari looking the slightest bit away from Inuyasha, ears lowering minutely and her tail lowing from its raised, challenging position to one just slightly lower than where it would naturally stay, throwing Miroku roughly towards the group, not even looking at him as he landed with a thud and a quiet cry.

"Keep him in line," she said, her voice having the scratchy and quiet quality of someone who rarely spoke, "or he won't have to worry about fathering children." Before the group could move one way or another, she was leaping away, heading towards the nearby mountains.

"Is he all right?" The question came from an older man, from his bearing the head of the village they were hoping to stay at. "Sachi ran to get me as soon as the attack happened. On behalf of this village, I apologize. Her father, I'm told, was a respected member of this village, which seems to be the reason she stays. No one is able to get rid of her, though she usually does nothing more than lurk irritatingly at the edge of the village. Sachi is a distant relative of hers, and usually can get Hari to leave us alone."

"No harm was done," Miroku said, bowing towards the village elder. "I apologize for causing such a disturbance. We were merely passing through the village."

"I insist you stay with my family for the night." The offer was gratefully accepted by Miroku, and the group all tried to put the incident out of their minds for the night.

The next morning the set out for the mountains, having heard from village members that a strange demon had taken residence there and was causing problems for them by making passage impossible. Apparently this demon was incredibly strong, and seemed a likely candidate to have a jewel shard. They were warned against heading into the mountains as during this time of year, storms could start up with little warning, but the pleas to wait fell on deaf ears as the group pressed on, Inuysha being certain that this wouldn't take them long and they would be able to leave the mountains before the day had passed.

The search ended up being a more difficult one than they had expected, and the group had found themselves seeking out shelter. They found a cave that was large enough to comfortably hold them, and even though there were still a few hours until the sun would set, decided to simply stay there, the clouds forming above them reminding them of the warnings they had had about how quickly the weather could turn on them.

A fight with Inuysha, however, had Kagome storming off and Inuysha leaving a large crater in the ground.

"Kagome, you shouldn't leave. It looks like it will start to snow any moment," Sango warned.

"I won't be going far, Sango. I'll be fine," the futuristic girl insisted, grabbing her bow and arrows and walking off, further pleas and warnings from the others ignored.

However, Kagome neglected to pay attention to where she was going, and quickly found herself lost. To make matters worse, the light flurries that had started shortly after she stormed off had picked up into a heavy snowfall, and coupled with the harsh breezes, Kagome was both freezing and unable to see very far in front of her. Just as she was starting to consider calling for Inuyasha, she felt a demonic presence behind her. The large bear demon, thankfully, didn't have any jewel shards, but that didn't stop it from deciding that Kagome would make an excellent meal.

One swipe of its massive paw left large gouges on Kagome as well as snapping the bow she carried. A second swipe sent her flying, head roughly colliding with the stones. The last thing she was aware of was a cry of "Blades of Blood!" and a figure roughly slamming into the bear, intent on killing it.

"For a bear demon, it wasn't very strong," mused Hari as she turned towards whatever it was the demon had been so intent on killing. Walking towards Kagome, and digging her out of the snow, she took in the girl's condition. She had several nasty-looking gouges on her body, gouges that were still bleeding freely.

"Another victim of the mountain, then," Hari decided, starting to turn away and head back towards the cave she had taken shelter in. She had only moved a few feet away, however, before she stopped and, despite herself, turned back towards the girl. Groaning in irritation, she picked her up and, throwing her over her shoulder, headed quickly towards her shelter, absently noticing which direction her scent trail had headed.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered dropping Kagome on the floor of the cave and, after shaking herself dry, lit a small fire, the size of the cave meaning that the small blaze would be more than enough to keep her warm. In the light of the fire, she finally saw just how badly Kagome was injured. If those wounds weren't cleaned and bandaged soon, she probably wouldn't last the night. As it was, Hari still wasn't convinced she would last the night, even with aid. Deciding that the remains of her tattered... whatever that bulky thing was were useless as anything else, she tore up the already shredded coat and set about the task of bandaging the girl's wounds tightly. When she was done she stepped back and, seeing that the girl was shivering, wrapped her tightly in the pelt that was on her back. It wasn't long enough to cover Kagome completely with her being stretched out as she was, but Hari decided that it was better than nothing and, coupled with the fire, she would be warm enough.

"The second the snow stops, I'm taking her back to her companions," she decided, wanting nothing to do with the girl or the group she was with, especially the monk. A growl escaped her involuntarily at the memory of the pervert, and her hands tightened into fists. If it weren't for the fact that she knew she wouldn't be able to defeat the group that the monk was with, she would have torn his throat out.

Walking towards the side of her cave that she had her supplies next to, she grabbed a small bowl and, walking towards the cave's mouth, scooped up some snow, setting the bowl next to the fire so that it would melt faster. Walking back towards the cave's mouth, she scooped up a second handful, biting into it so that she could have something to drink while waiting on the melting snow. That done, she settled against the wall of the cave and attempted to get some rest, hoping that the storm would stop soon.

Back in the cave Inuyasha and the others had taken shelter in, the half-demon in question was pacing restlessly. He had set out after Kagome once the snow had started but had been unable to track it very far before the storm got too bad for him to continue, forcing him to grudgingly head back to the others.

"I hope Kagome's okay," Shippo said, worryingly peering outside the cave as if hoping that Kagome would miraculously appear.

"I'm sure she's fine, Shippo," Miroku said. "She probably took shelter in another cave once the snow started.

"This is all your fault, Inuyasha!" The fox declared, pointing at the person in question. "You shouldn't have insulted Kagome's cooking! If you hadn't, she'd still be here!" His angry shouts turned into a pained one after Inuyasha hit him on the head.

"Shippo, yelling at Inuysha won't solve anything," Miroku said. "Once the storm stops, we'll all head out to look for her. In the meantime, we should rest so that we have as much energy as possible for the search." Taking his own advice, he settled himself close to the fire and attempted to sleep.

Slowly, reluctantly, the others, with the sole exception of Inuyasha, followed his lead, all of them hoping desperately that Miroku was right about Kagome being safe.

Back in the cave that Hari called 'home' the silence was broken by a pained "Inuyasha?" as Kagome woke up.

"Don't move, girl. You'll reopen your wounds," was the barked out command as Hari stood up and, after carefully helping Kagome sit against the back of the cave, handed her the bowl of melted snow as well as some food.

"Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome demanded, slowly eating the offered meal.

"Probably taking shelter. Only a fool wanders around during a snowstorm," Hari answered, her expression telling Kagome that she had been labeled as a 'fool' by the woman.

"Why did you save me?"

"It saves me trouble in the long run. I can't guarantee that my scent will be gone before the snow stops. If that half-demon of yours were to find your broken and dead body, and my scent nearby, it wouldn't matter if it was me or the bear that killed you. He would come after me and I avoid fights when possible." It was true, all of it. After her father had died when she was barely old enough to fend for herself, her mother having died shortly after she was weaned, she had learned quickly that if she wanted to survive she had two options, fight any and everyone that tried to threaten or insult her, or avoid fighting unless she had no other choice. Judging by how readily this 'Inuyasha' (assuming that was the half-demon that this strange girl was with) was willing to fight with her, he had taken the former route whereas Hari had chosen the latter. She could fight as adeptly as anyone else and the bear was just as much a threat to her as it was the human in front of her, killing it at the time she did was the smartest option as she had surprise on her side, which was the sole reason she had attacked it in the first place. However despite her words being true, Hari herself couldn't say why she had saved the girl. She had acted on impulse and while she wasn't about to kill the human herself, or let her die if at all possible, she didn't know why she had bothered in the first place.

"That makes sense, I guess," Kagome said quietly. "Well, whatever the reason, thank you for saving my life." As much as she could in her sitting position, Kagome bowed gratefully to Hari, who was ignoring her in favor of watching the storm outside. Kagome sighed and, realizing that her unexpected companion wasn't interested in talking, resumed slowly eating her meal in silence. At one point she had offered Hari her cloak back but had been told that Hari "wasn't as weak as she was and would be fine without the pelt for warmth." Not wanting to argue, Kagome had settled back down, gratefully wrapping it around herself.

The storm had been blowing strongly for a day and a half now. In that time, Kagome had started to get sick from a combination of infected wounds that couldn't be properly cleaned and it being the middle of winter. Despite the relative warmth and shelter of the cave, wind was still able to blow inside freely Currently it was only a mild fever and Kagome was hopeful that she wouldn't get any worse. All attempts at conversation had been shut down so Kagome was trying to content herself with resting. She was completely bored, however, and wished for the storm to end soon so that she could rejoin her friends.

By the end of the second day, Hari was having to force Kagome to eat and drink by shredding the meat into tiny pieces with her claws and putting into the water in a form of soup that she could pour in Kagome's mouth. She was also running out of bandages to use and had started tearing up Kagome's clothing, which was more easily torn than her own and besides that Kagome could probably replace her clothing more easily than Hari could.

By the middle of the third day, Kagome had only woken up twice, and both times only after a good deal of prodding on Hari's part. Her fever was getting steadily worse and Hari had started using a strip of cloth soaked in snow as a cold compress of sorts, placing it on the girl's forehead in an attempt to lower it.

On the afternoon of the forth day, the storm finally broke. One glance at the sky told Hari that this was only a temporary reprieve and the storm could start up again at any moment. It would have to do, however, as Kagome was getting steadily worse and Hari decided that if the girl was going to die, it was best to do so around the people who cared about her. During that first day, even though Hari refused to respond to her chatter, the girl had talked quite a bit about her friends. It was obvious that she cared a good deal about them and they her. Decision made, Hari wrapped the unconscious girl as tightly as she could in the pelt and took off, finding the spot where she had first found the girl with the aid of the bear demon's carcass. The scent trail, even if it hadn't been covered in snow, was by this time long gone. Fortunately, Hari remembered which way it had led and took off.

The snow had just started up again when she was hit by a wave of dizziness. All of her food had gone to the human she was carrying over her shoulder and it seemed that four days of eating nothing took its tole on anyone. Shaking her head to clear it, she kept on going, though not as quickly as before. It didn't take long for her to realize that she was suffering not only from lack of food, but the fact that this would be the night of the waxing quarter moon. The second the sun set, she would be a human. She had to find the girl's friends, and leave before then. Redoubling her efforts, she set off as quickly as she could.

The sun was just starting to set when she heard a cry of "Kagome!" and saw a figure in bright red running towards her. That was strange. She didn't think anyone could run sideways. And if he was running towards her, why was he getting farther and farther away? She had just enough time to wonder this before she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

The second the storm had stopped, Inuysha had left the cave, running as quickly as he could along the path that Kagome had taken four days ago. He hadn't gone very far when he picked up her scent, along with the scent of the woman who had attacked Miroku. Readying himself for a fight, he ran even faster when the scent of Kagome's sickness hit his nose.

When he reached the two shortly after Hari collapsed, the first thing he did was check that Kagome was all right. The fall to the ground had woken the girl, and she collected enough of her wits to beg Inuyasha to take Hari with them, saying over and over that she was only alive because of her, that Hari didn't even eat while she was with her, saving all of the food she had for her. Not wanting to upset her and make her worse, Inuyasha adjusted his grip on Kagome so that he was carrying her with one arm and grabbed the unconscious wolf, barely noticing Kagome's exhausted thanks as she fell asleep as he took off towards the cave.

He was met with three cries of "Inuyasha!" when he rejoined his friends, dropping Hari carelessly on the ground and setting Kagome down with far more care. Immediately, Sango was next her, demanding that Shippo get the first aid kit when she saw the bandages, and that Miroku and Inuyasha turn their backs when she saw the torn clothing. Cleaning them as thoroughly as she could before re-bandaging them, she managed to rouse Kagome long enough to get her to take the medicines that they had all been instructed on in case they needed them. Changing Kagome's clothes, she then covered her in the offered Fire Rat robe before turning her gaze onto Hari.

"Why is she here?" While there was no immediate threat in Sango's tone, it was clear that, like Inuyasha, she remembered the attack on Miroku and was not happy to see the attacker.

"Kagome insisted that I bring her, saying that she saved her life," was the answer she was given as Inuyasha settled down next to Kagome.

"Given that it is unlikely Kagome bandaged her wounds herself given the severity of them as well as her sickness, I am inclined to believe this," Miroku answered, taking the discarded cloak and placing it over Hari, who had unconsciously curled up into a more comfortable position. Shortly after doing this, he noticed her ears sinking into her skull and her claws changing into normal fingernails. Used to Inuyasha's monthly transformations, none of them commented on this, deciding to leave her be. While the two women slept, Inuyasha was pestered for details on what had happened when he found Kagome, which were given in an annoyed voice.

When Hari woke up the next morning the first thing she realized is that she was warm and relatively comfortable. That didn't make sense. She remembered passing out in the snow and not wearing her cloak. Moving as little as possible, she slowly and steadily breathed in through her nose. The first thing she smelled was the powerful scent of food cooking. Then other scents filtered in through her nose. The scent of the girl, Kagome, she rescued, along with the scents of her friends. From the sounds around her, the friends were eating and talking quietly, likely to let the girl – who didn't smell as sick as she had before – sleep peacefully.

Realizing that there was no way she was going to be able to leave without being noticed thanks to the two full demons and one half-demon, she sat up silently, walking towards the mouth of cave to grab a handful of snow.

"Finally awake?" Her ear flicked back towards the voice, Inuyasha, when the question was growled out, but beyond that, she didn't say a word. She glanced at the sky briefly and narrowed her eyes in annoyance. She risked the snows once before because she had no choice. Given that these people hadn't harmed her, and hadn't even removed her dagger, she wasn't under any immediate threat here. She wasn't about to risk the snows a second time. Sighing quietly, she pulled the pelt back around her shoulders and settled against the cave wall.

No sooner had she sat down than the monk was crouched in front of her, offering a strange looking cup with tantalizing smells and a pair of chopsticks to her.

"According to Inuyasha's account of what Kagome said to him, you did not eat the entire time she was with you. You must be hungry after five days of not eating." The words were said with a friendly smile, and to her relief he backed away as soon as she took the offered items. She carefully studied at the cup and its contents, sniffed the food carefully, studied again, sniffed again, finally concluded that there was no poison that she could smell coming from it, and took a tentative bite, eating more readily at the taste, but not so quickly that she would make herself ill. She had gotten sick once from eating quickly after not eating for days as a child, she wasn't inclined to repeat the experience.

After she finished the ramen, setting the cup and chopsticks to the side, an annoyed Inuyasha immediately spoke up.

"All right. Miroku insisted that we wait for you to eat before asking you anything. You've eaten. Now what were you doing with Kagome?"

"Looking for you," was the answer that was immediately given. "I figured if she was going to die, she'd rather do so among you all than with me." Then the monks words finally hit her. Five days of not eating. She had only been with Kagome for four. These people knew her human night! Panic immediately set in, mind racing on how she could ensure that they would _never_ tell anyone about her night of weakness.

"Hari? What's distressing you?"

At the monk's question, Hari immediately concentrated on breathing evenly, guarding her expression so that they wouldn't be able to know what she was thinking or feeling.

"_Calm down. If they were going to kill me, they'd have done so while I was an unconscious human. They didn't. So obviously, they're not planning to. What do they want from me that would keep them from taking advantage of my weakness like that?"_

Her thoughts were broken by a quiet moan from Kagome, who was sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Kagome. How are you feeling?" Sango asked in concern.

"Better than I was. Thanks for giving me the medicine, Sango." After a few more minutes of reassuring her friends that, yes, she was all right, she noticed Hari's presence, immediately brightening. "Hari! Inuyasha did bring you with us. I know I asked him to, but I wasn't certain that he actually would. He wouldn't have let you die, but I thought he might have just dropped you off in a different cave."

"You plead for my life?"

"Inuyasha may not act it most of the time, but he's a good person. He really wouldn't have left you there, Hari." Twin scoffs met that statement, both half-demons disbelieving the comment. "But, yes, I did ask for him to take you with us. You saved my life."

"Speaking of, why did you do that?"

"As I told the human – Kagome – it was easier in the long run. Should you have found her body, and smelled my lingering scent, you wouldn't have cared who it was that killed her. I was obviously there. You would have sought my blood and I cannot be certain that I could beat all four of you." Glancing at Inuyasha, she saw that he was still furious with her, though she couldn't place why for a moment. When the answer occurred to her, she smiled slightly.

"Of course. You are already after my blood. I threatened what was yours." After a moment's pause, she spoke up again. "Then again, I also saved what was yours. I suppose it is your decision if the two acts balance each other out." After another moment, she sighed, ears dropping slightly in sadness. When she spoke again, there was a resigned quality to it.

"If, once there is no longer the threat of a storm, you still seek my life, it is yours. I won't fight. But I am not leaving this cave until the snows have stopped enough that I am satisfied they will not start again shortly, and I imagine your companions won't want to be in a cave covered in my blood, so I suggest you wait before exacting your revenge."

"What do you mean 'what was his'?" Kagome asked. The question was met with a confused glance from Hari towards Inuyasha.

"They don't know that you've claimed them? That they are yours?" If she had more to say, it was stopped by Kagome's outraged 'SIT!'

"How dare you? SIT! You get mad at Koga when he calls me his, SIT! when at the same time you did the same thing? SITSITSITSI-!" The storm of sits was stopped by a clawed hand on her mouth.

"Is there a reason you're acting like this is a bad thing?" When the response was muffled, Hari remembered that she was still covering Kagome's mouth.

When she had backed off, Kagome repeated what she said. "I am not something that can be 'owned.' I don't appreciate him thinking that I am." Hari blinked in confusion at the answer.

"I didn't say that. I said that he claimed you as his."

"She doesn't know what you mean." Inuyasha didn't sound in nearly as much pain as Hari would have imagined, given how hard he had been slammed into the ground. He simply sounded frustrated and tired with the ordeal already.

"Then perhaps Hari could explain for us," Miroku suggested.

"It means... it means..." Hari paused, trying to figure out how to explain this. "What else could it mean. You're just... his."

"She means he's claimed us as family, to put it in human terms" Shippo spoke up, having understood what Hari meant as well as having already known that Inuyasha had claimed them all. He had missed most of what had transpired, having been asleep until Kagome's yelling had woken him.

"Being claimed," Hari continued, finally having found the words to describe what was meant by this particular 'claim' as the term meant multiple things, "means that you are protected without fail. That you're provided for. It's just..." she sighed, having again lost the words for this, "you're just _his_. There's no real explanation for it."

Having heard the explanation, Kagome's expression changed from furious to repentant, and she immediately rushed over to Inuyasha's side, apologizing for sitting him like that and making sure he wasn't injured.

"When exactly did you claim us, I wonder?" Miroku asked.

"He probably doesn't know," Hari answered for him as Inuyasha was busy trying to calm down a still sick Kagome. "It's instinctive, and rarely can be pinned to a specific moment. It doesn't matter, though you're his, and will continue to be his until you die."

"How did you figure out that we had been claimed?"

"By pinning you to a tree," Hari answered, glaring slightly in Miroku's direction at the memory. "His body language screamed 'Mine. Back off.' the entire time. It wasn't difficult for me to figure out that the claim extended to the rest of you."

"I see. I also owe you an apology, Hari," Miroku said, bowing respectfully. "Had I known that my question to the lovely young woman would anger her family so, I would never have-"

"She's not my family," Hari interrupted. "She's blood, kin, mine as a result, but she's not family. My family is long dead."

"Nevertheless, I am truly sorry that my question angered you so," Miroku said, relaxing when Hari looked away with an annoyed scoff, recognizing from a long time of being with Inuyasha that the incident was more or less forgiven.

"By the way, how did Kagome come to be so badly injured?" Sango asked, remembering just how bad the wounds were when she cleaned them.

"She angered a bear demon." After being questioned further, Hari related the encounter.

"That was likely the demon that the villagers were talking about. Once the storm ends and Kagome recovers, we can probably leave." As if on a silent cue, all of the cave looked outside where it had again started to snow.

"It's not snowing that bad, we can probably make it down the mountain before the storm hits," Shippo suggested. "Inuyasha can carry Kagome, and she'd probably rather recover inside the village anyway."

"If you want to leave now, you're a fool," Hari answered. "I've spent my entire life on these mountains. Storms can appear almost out of nowhere. _No one_ braves the mountain unless they don't have a choice." Sufficiently cowed, Shippo quietly said that it was a bad idea and settled down next to Kirara, who had transformed to help keep Kagome warm and comfortable while she slept.

Later that night, when almost everyone was asleep, Inuyasha stood up and settled down next to Hari, who was sitting just inside the cave and leaning against the wall.

"Why did you really save Kagome?" The question was asked quietly, neither of them willing to risk waking the others.

"I'm not sure," Hari answered with a sigh. "I guess... it was the way she looked at me. Even as I was holding her friend by the throat, there was no hatred in her gaze. She was worried for the monk, and angered that I was threatening him, but she didn't _hate_ me. I don't even think she really noticed that I'm a half-demon. And while we were in the cave, she had no words of hatred for me. It was almost like she wanted to be my _friend_. I've only known one person in my life who did not hate me." After a long moment of almost companionable silence, Hari spoke again.

"I meant what I said earlier. Should you still seek revenge for your friend, I will not fight. Wolves... don't function without family. It was the reason I stayed so close to the village. My father said once, when he didn't know I could hear him, that he believed that it was loneliness that killed my mother. She loved us both, but without the fellowship of others, human or demon, he didn't believe she was able to handle it. I have kin in the village. And while I was a nuisance, I was also useful, killing minor demons, so they let me be, realizing that they couldn't kill me without losing many of their own. After what I did to the monk, however, they will not let me stay even on the far outskirts. Since I'm already doomed to die, there is no point in trying to stay alive."

Inuyasha didn't answer at first, absorbing what was said. Finally, he scoffed in irritation. "As if I'd kill someone who won't even bother to fight back." His tone brooked no argument, finding the matter settled. Hari nodded her acceptance of his answer, silently relieved as she hadn't actually wanted to die.

"Hari, if you have nowhere else to go, why not come with us?" Inuyasha's and Hari both jumped slightly and turned towards Kagome. Due to the storm that had kicked up only recently, neither of them had heard Kagome's quiet movements as she stood up and walked towards them. For her part, Kagome had woken up badly needing to pee, but hadn't wanted to interrupt the conversation.

"I'll consider it," Hari finally answered after a long period of silence. She was decidedly uncomfortable with the proposal, not having spent any length of time around people in a very long time. At the same time, however, she had meant it when she said that wolves didn't function without family. When she had attacked the monk, she had known that the village would never let it pass and to return would be signing her death warrant. It was knowledge that had crushed her at the time, and that was still weighing heavily on her. These people were not family, but going with them would mean companionship. The prospect of not being alone wasn't one she had ever considered. This was an offer that would likely never come again, and she would be a fool not to accept it. And if these people genuinely had no problems with her being a half-demon, and already knew about her time of weakness, then there was a good chance that she would actually be able to trust these strange people.

"Great!" Kagome said cheerfully, walking a slight ways outside of the cave to relieve herself. Not so far away that she risked getting lost, but far enough away that the smell wouldn't bother those with sensitive noses. Business taken care of, she headed back inside and settled back down to sleep.

* * *

_AN: It's actually bugged me quite a bit that Miroku's flirting always goes relatively unpunished. Sango hits him on the head with her Hiraikotsu, the others get angry at him for it, but that's the end of it. Where are the angry men and other family members raging at this person for flirting with so many women? Only in _one_ episode, did people show what I consider to be a more appropriate reaction to this, and it makes no sense. I suppose it could be because none of them think he's being serious, but it still doesn't make any sense to me. Since I needed for Hari to have a negative first impression, Miroku's flirting ways were something that I could exploit. And in case I didn't do a good job of showing this in the story proper, I needed it to be winter because I needed Kagome to spend time, one on one, with Hari and see for herself that she's not too dissimilar to Inuyasha. Gruff on the outside, perhaps a little temperamental, but genuinely a good person. Trapped in a cave due to injuries kept her with Hari, and the bad storms kept the others from being able to seek her out. And it had to be Kagome because she's the only reason that this group got together in the first place, and is really the one that keeps them all traveling together. If any of them was going to be willing to try and get to know Hari, and offer for her to travel with them, it would be Kagome. And timeline-wise, this chapter, at least, happens before Miroku proposes to Sango.__Final note, yes I know that Hari was the demon from the first movie, no relation, I just liked the name. __So, tell me what you think. I actually have pretty much all of this written in my head as it's not a large story, just a bunch of interconnected one-shots, as I said. So while the individual 'chapters' might be long, they're only, at the end of the day, going to be a few scenes that each individual story centers on. So unlike, well, _all_ of my other stories, this one, at least, should have relatively frequent updates. POSSIBLY even another one later today._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Nope. Still own nothing not an OC._

* * *

Hari leaped from place to place down a trail that only she could see on the snow-covered mountain, only occasionally glancing behind her to make sure that the others were keeping up. She hadn't yet decided if she was going to travel with these strange people, but had promised to lead them safely down the mountain at the very least. She might have traveled closer to them, had it not been for what had happened as they were preparing to leave the cave.

Kagome was resisting being carried by Inuyasha while the path was still relatively visible, claiming that she felt fine enough to walk while the half-demon was insisting that she wasn't. Ideally, they would have remained in the cave until the girl was well, but her ninja food had run out, and they had nothing else in the way of supplies. Due to the winter storms, game was scarce and despite Hari and Inuyasha's best efforts, there was little that they could find. They would usually find enough for one or two people to eat, and if she was alone what little was found would probably last Hari a couple days at a time, but it wasn't enough for six people and one cat. With a break in the storms, and the sky clear enough that Hari was comfortable leading them down, they took the chance to leave while it was safe.

Or at least that was the plan, but Kagome was insisting that she wanted to walk, claiming that she hadn't had a chance to stretch her legs in a long time and insisting that she wanted to take the chance to do so now. Inuyasha was just as insistent that she was still sick and he didn't need her getting worse and delaying the shard hunt any further.

After long minutes of their bickering, Hari let out an annoyed growl and finally spoke up.

"Kaya, will you just shut up and-" she broke off suddenly, realizing exactly what she had said. Her expression went from startled, to shocked, to horrified, to a pained expression that was gone so quickly that the others weren't quite sure it was ever there to a completely neutral expression.

"We're leaving," she growled out, taking off down the mountain at a pace that solved Inuyasha and Kagome's argument for them as there was no way for the human girl to keep up.

At the foot of the mountain, Hari finally slowed enough for the others to catch up. After a few minutes of discussion, Hari agreed to meet them a few miles outside the village once Kagome was fully recovered. Once they met up, Hari would tell them if she'd decided whether or not she would travel with them. They hadn't wanted to go back to that village, given the barely concealed animosity they showed to Inuyasha, and slightly better concealed animosity towards Shippo and Kirara, but Kagome's illness had left them with no other choice. It was Miroku who came up with the suggestion that the three humans go to the village on their own, and the four with demon blood wait for them, close enough that should danger approach they could quickly get to them, but far enough away that problems wouldn't arise. It was a far from ideal situation, but one that, reluctantly, the others agreed to.

Hari waited while Inuyasha followed Kagome, Miroku, and Sango as close to the village as he could without being noticed before leading him, Shippo, and Kirara on a roundabout route to the other side, stopping when the village was just visible. Camping place chosen, the four were temporarily distracted with looking for something to eat. The winter was just as cold here as it was on the mountain, and the snows were just as prevalent. But unlike the mountains, food was also easier to find, and Inuyasha hand managed to successfully hunt and kill four rabbits, much to Hari's surprised as she had assumed that the squirrel she had found for herself would be all she would have until she set out again on another hunting trip. Due to a lack of dry wood, a fire was all but impossible to start, so the group had to content themselves with eating raw meat. Fortunately, due to their demonic blood, this wasn't a problem unlike if they had been humans.

Hari ate her rabbit in silence, thinking back to the first time she had had raw meat. It was a rabbit much like this one, but every time she had sat down to cook food during the past few days, some human or demon would see the fire and, upon investigating, tried to kill the small child she had been at the time. Hunger and desperation had caused her to simply jump into a tree, which she had quickly learned was the best place to hide herself as burrowing in 'dens' that she found led to difficulty escaping danger, and tear into the rabbit raw. The entire experience was unusual as well as unpleasant. The raw meat had a different texture than cooked, and the first bite she took caused the blood to flood into her mouth. That, along with the fur that had the most unpleasant texture of the entire meal, made that first time eating raw meat miserable and if she hadn't been so desperately hungry, she might have risked cooking it after all. Over the years, she had gotten used to eating raw meat, and cooked food had become a luxury she rarely had the time or safety to indulge in.

The silence was broken by Shippo, who with the innocence of a child had turned to Hari and asked "Who's Kaya? Is she a friend of yours?"

"Kaya isn't anyone, and she died a long time ago," was the practically snarled answer before Hari leaped into a tree, half-eaten rabbit left behind due to a sudden loss of appetite.

Inuyasha didn't say anything, thinking quietly about what was said.

"_She died a long time ago!"_ Those had been his exact words when Kagome had questioned him about his mother. He wouldn't pry. It wasn't his business and he didn't really care. But it was obvious that Kaya wasn't 'no one.' Whoever she had been, she had been someone special to Hari. What he did care about, however, was that he was still hungry, and if Hari wasn't going to finish her rabbit than he would. The irritated growl from above him as he reached for the rabbit was enough to tell him that Hari did _not_ appreciate him stealing her food, but if she wasn't going to actually stop him, than he was going to eat it.

Just before he was able to grab the rabbit, the scent of blood followed by a dagger shot down from the trees, landing just in front of his hand, which immediately ran into a barrier that had appeared out of nowhere. Glancing up towards Hari, the half-demon in question leaped down, easily going through the barrier and grabbing the rabbit. Food in hand, she removed the dagger from the ground, the barrier immediately vanishing as she did so, and Inuyasha just barely seeing the healing cut on Hari's hand that hadn't been there moment's ago. Before anyone could comment on what had just happened, Hari and returned to the trees and the group on the ground heard the quiet crunching of bones as the meal was finished.

"Hari, your dagger produces a barrier?" Shippo's excited question about her blade was enough to make Hari forget her irritation with him for prying. Reluctantly, she dropped down from the tree and sat at its base, leaning against it.

"It was a gift from my mother," she said, almost reluctant to share. "According to my father, she said that anyone not of her blood won't be able to touch it."

"Just like Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga!" Shippo exclaimed. "Every time a demon tries to steal it, its barrier rejects them. Is your dagger's barrier strong? When did you discover you could produce a barrier? How does it work? What's its-"

"How am I supposed to answer so many questions?" Hari asked, an amused smile on her face almost despite herself. She spent the next few minutes talking about her nameless dagger as her father didn't know its name and she'd never known who had forged it. The barrier was strong enough to keep out most threats, but she rarely used it since it fed directly off of her own energy and she only had so much available, meaning the longer she used it, the weaker it made her. The only way to produce a barrier was if she cut herself with it, even simply pricking a finger was enough, and then plunged it into the ground, and she discovered it on accident when she was sharpening it as a child and had cut herself, dropping the blade instinctively and seeing the barrier that it produced.

"Cool! So all it does is make a barrier? Tetsusaiga has lots of things it can do, like the Wind Scar, and Backlash Wave. It can even destroy barriers like yours!"

"So the sword's name is Tetsusaiga?" Hari's question was met with a nod from Inuyasha. As neither half-demon was inclined to be talkative, most of the afternoon into the evening was spent in relative, if somewhat strained, silence, with Shippo doing most of the talking and Hari and Inuyasha occasionally responding.

During the night, Hari and Inuyasha had taken shelter in different trees, while Shippo lay curled up on Kirara for warmth. They had all fallen into a light sleep when Hari was woken by quiet whimpering. A few moments of searching around led her gaze to the sleeping Shippo, who was sleeping fitfully and evidently having a nightmare of some sort. A glance towards Inuyasha told her that the quiet whimpers had woken him as well, assuming he had been asleep to start with. She saw him tense up in readiness to drop down from his perch when Shippo woke up, wiping his eyes and looking around frantically to see if anyone had noticed.

Hari had just started to relax, assuming that he would either go back to sleep or Inuyasha would handle it when his quiet "Hari?" from beneath her tree got her attention.

"Hari, please? I know you're awake, I saw you moving just now." The plea was quiet, and glancing down at the kit, she saw him glancing from her to Inuyasha, for whatever reason worried about him noticing.

A glance towards the half-demon in question. She wasn't trusted, that much was obvious. Even when they sat in near companionable silence, there was an undercurrent of tension, neither quite willing to trust the other, though Hari did her part to lessen the tension slightly by keeping her ears and tail in an appropriately submissive position whenever he was obviously looking at her. He wasn't obviously looking at either of them, but she knew that his seemingly relaxed position could change in an instant, and his ears turned in her direction told her he was awake and paying attention, though with how dark it was, she doubted Shippo could see that from where he was standing. Another quiet plea from the fox in question, and a complete lack of protest from Inuyasha caused her to drop down with a quiet thud.

"What is it, kid?"

"I just... could I sleep with you? Kagome usually lets me sleep with her and she was trying to not look so sick to not worry anyone but I know better, and..." he trailed off, but Hari could hear his 'I'm worried about her' as clearly as if he had spoken the words aloud.

"And you came to me instead of Inuyasha because?"

"He'd laugh at me for being such a wimp. Don't tell him, please!"

Hari sighed, glanced briefly towards the tree Inuyasha had taken shelter in, saw his eyes opened the slightest bit, and then glanced back at Shippo, sighing again.

"Just this once," she said, laying down next to Shippo and curling herself around him, adjusting the cloak so that he was laying on it instead of in the snow. It meant less of it was available to keep her warm and dry, a large factor in her sleeping in the tree as she could pull her legs up and wrap the pelt around her like a blanket and stay relatively warm, but she would be fine for one night. If she was a little cold, due to the wind, that didn't matter. Though if, at some point during the night she was woken from her light sleep by something landing on her from above that, upon closer inspection turned out to be a bright red robe, she certainly wasn't going to mention it, choosing instead to adjust it so as to keep her warmer.

A few days later they were rejoined by Kagome and the others, and after several long moments of the group reuniting, Kagome looked around for Hari.

"Did she decide not to join us?"

"I'll come," Hari said, leaping down from the tree she was perched in. Due to her dark hair and clothing, she blended into shadows better than Inuyasha did, which was why Kagome had looked at her three times while looking around for her. "I have nowhere else to go, after all." Kagome's bright smile removed any lingering doubts Hari might have had about being welcomed into the group. Inuyasha was the leader, it was true, but it was obvious that Kagome had more than a little authority as no one argued with her offer of Hari joining them.

It was a lengthy trip to Kaede's village, taking a little over two weeks. When they arrived, they ran into a problem that none of them had anticipated. They were just on the outskirts of the village when Hari leaped into a tree and adamantly refused to leave it, having had too many bad memories of entering villages to dare enter this one.

"Hari? Aren't you coming with us?" Kagome questioned, confused as to why the half wolf had stopped as she did.

"No," came the clipped answer. Hari was the very picture of agitation, ears pinned flat against her head and her tail, as much as it could while crouched in a tree, lashing from side to side violently. To complete the picture, her hands were slightly curled, claws ready to be used at a moment's notice. Kagome took all of this in, and then looked uncertainly at Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha?" She had hoped that the other half-demon would have an idea on how to reassure Hari that there was no threat here.

Instead of reassuring Hari like she had hoped, Inuyasha just scoffed, claiming that he didn't care what Hari did. Almost despite that, however, he visibly relaxed once he entered the village. It wasn't something that someone who wasn't paying close attention would notice, but his muscles relaxed ever so slightly, changing from always ready to fight to a more at ease position. His ears, too, lowered from their alert position to a more relaxed one. Whereas before they were taking in every sound looking for a threat, now it was more as if they were taking in every sound so as not to miss anything happening. There was no worry in his posture. He didn't say a word, barely glanced at her after entering the village, but just as before in the village of her father when his body language had told her in no uncertain terms that Miroku and the others were _his_, his body language now was telling her just as clearly that there was no threat here.

As unbelievable as it seemed that Inuyasha would be completely at home inside a village, what really shocked Hari was just how little the villagers seemed to care about his half-demon blood. While they didn't swarm him the way they did the monk, slayer, and Kagome, they still called out friendly greetings before continuing on their business. It was impossible. It was unbelievable. But this village honestly welcomed Inuyasha and the others of demon blood.

Hari was just about to drop down from the tree and cautiously enter the town when an old woman, a priestess by her garb, walked towards the group, friendly smile on her face. Hari's eyes narrowed and she pulled further back into the branches of the tree, lips baring in a silent snarl. Friendly smile or no, Hari had yet to meet a priestess that didn't try to purify her on the spot. She absolutely refused to believe the others claims that Kagome was a priestess. Whoever heard of a priestess wearing clothes like _that_. Then again, Hari hadn't met _anyone_ who wore clothes like Kagome's. Granted, before Miroku she had never met a monk that hadn't tried to kill her, either.

Kaede was just starting to welcome the group back when, as one, everyone looked back in the direction they had come, the demonic aura they felt impossible to ignore. Forgetting her earlier mistrust of the village and animosity towards the older priestess, Hari leaped from the tree she was in to land amongst the others, ears thrown forward in aggression and tail raised in challenge. Moving as one, the group ran from the village to meet the demonic threat head-on, before the villagers got involved.

The threat in question was a group of ten lizard demons. Not particularly strong on their own, but with enough sense to band together to be tougher. They had sensed Kagome's jewel shards and wanted the power that they would get from them. As if by an unspoken signal, both groups attacked at the same time.

Despite never having fought with this group before, Hari interjected herself into the battle flow seamlessly, dodging the giant boomerang Sango wielded as needed, and working surprisingly well with Inuyasha, whose body language she could read to tell her exactly where to be to be of the most use in the fight. Lizards were fast, and that coupled with the bulk of these particular lizards made them a hazard, but not one that the group felt to be any particular threat.

Until, that was, one of the lizards managed to get to Kagome. It was the only surviving one of its fellows, and it forcefully ripped the shards from her neck, carelessly throwing the girl to the side to be only just caught by Shippo as it forced the shards into its neck. Now shard-enhanced, what was once little more than a pest was now a threat. Due to the jewel shards, Miroku couldn't use his Wind Tunnel, and it seemed that every blow the others landed was immediately healed, the natural regenerative powers that lizards held enhanced along with everything else by the stolen jewel.

Sango, Shippo, Kirara, and Miroku, not wanting to get in the way of Inuyasha's infuriated attacks and also having found themselves injured too badly to not be in the way, were guarding the unconscious Kagome in case the reptile slipped past him or Hari, who was using the fact that, thanks to being built smaller and more wiry, she was the _slightest_ bit faster, to not only keep up with Inuyasha, but also stay out of his way.

No one was entirely sure how it happened. One moment, Inuyasha was slashing at the lizard with his sword, and the next it was thrown several yards away and Inuyasha had a gaping hole in his shoulder from the lizard's claws, and another one in his stomach from the tail, which the lizard was able to use as a sword. Throwing the half-demon to the side, it turned its gaze onto Hari, who was relatively uninjured though she was slightly favoring her left arm.

She was so busy focusing on trying to tear the shards out of the demon's throat that she barely noticed the new scent coming from Inuyasha. The overpowering scent of his demon blood coming to the fore, and his human blood fading into obscurity. She didn't hear him stand up, and the concerned cries of the others were disregarded as she focused on the only threat she knew of. She didn't notice anything going on around her that did not include herself and this lizard.

She did notice, however, when a red blur streaked into her view and tore a large chunk out of the lizard's back.

For a moment, she was relieved that Inuyasha's wounds weren't severe enough to keep him out of the fight. Then he struck the lizard again and there was just something _wrong_ with how he was fighting. Something careless in his blows. Something in his posture as he seemed to delight in the lizard's blood, practically prolonging its death for his own amusement, whereas with the other demons, he had killed them quickly and efficiently. Breathing deeply through her nose, she tried to figure out what was wrong by scent. She nearly collapsed in shock at what her nose told her. Inexplicably, _impossibly_, his scent had changed. If she hadn't known that he was as half-blooded as she, she would have sworn that he was a full demon. She stood in shock as Inuyasha destroyed the lizard, luckily managing to hit it so that the shards were dislodged from its throat, landing near the huddled group. Hari's blood ran cold when he turned his gaze on to her. Before, she hadn't been able to properly see him, only seeing a blur or his back. But those red eyes, eyes that lacked all recognition of her, and those jagged marks on his face, and those huge fangs, coupled with his suddenly longer and sharper-looking claws all told her the same thing, a message that she had learned to read from others from a young age: This was someone who would kill her without a second thought.

His first attack, she barely managed to dodge, taking what should have been a blow to the throat to the shoulder instead, letting herself be thrown back in the hopes that she could _get away_. Whatever else had happened during this unusual change, his speed had increased. She was faster than him before, now he was far faster than she could ever hope to be.

"Hari! Hari, you have to get him Tetsusaiga!" Miroku was yelling. Hari shot him a brief incredulous look before having to dodge a flurry of attacks, having no opening to land in a blow of her own. He wanted her to give the mad, rampaging demon a _weapon_? Was he insane? Despite her disbelief, she found herself angling her dodging to lead her ever closer to the demon blade. For a moment, she thought she would be able to fend off his attacks long enough to reach it, that she would be able to grant the mad monk's request. Then she was flying through the air, long gouges across her front and a hole in her stomach. She blacked out for a moment, coming to when she hit the ground and looking blearily around her.

Inuyasha, thinking her finished, had turned his gaze on the others, who despite not wanting to hurt him, were readying their weapons as best they could. They would never be able to kill him. Even if they weren't injured, their body language told Hari that they felt too strongly for Inuyasha to be able to severely harm him. A handicap that was not shared by the half-demon in question.

"Hey," she said weakly, grabbing her dagger, forcing herself to her feet. "Don't turn your back on someone... who's not _dead_!" At the last word of her exclamation, she threw her dagger as hard as she could. It barely grazed Inuyasha, who had easily dodged the attack. But the object of her throw had never been the half-demon. The blade, soaked in her blood from when she held it, lodged itself firmly in the ground in front of Miroku and the others, barrier forming automatically. Hari was already moving after she threw the blade, desperately running towards the only thing she could possibly use as a weapon or shield: the Tetsusaiga, which she had landed mere feet from.

She reached it just as Inuyasha reached her, and braced herself as best as she could, one hand on the blade and another on the hilt, Inuyasha's hands landing in similar positions on the blade and the two were locked in a stalemate of sorts. Inside Hari's barrier, the others were thinking that it was a wonder that the rusted blade did not crack from the force of the two half-demons pushing against it from opposite sides.

The change wasn't immediate. It was gradual, much like the original transformation was. Scent changed as human blood regained itself. Claws shrunk slightly and lost some of their sharpness. Fangs receded into his mouth until they were their normal size. Jagged marks faded into obscurity, finally vanishing. The last thing to change were his eyes, which flickered between red and white for a long moment before finally returning to normal.

Unaware of what had been going on around him, Inuyasha didn't immediately relax from the grapple he had found himself in, mind needing a long moment to realize that he was apparently fighting over Tetsusaiga, and that Hari was the one he was fighting with. Happening to glance at the lizard, and hearing the worried cries of his friends, he slowly realized what had happened, relaxing from his grapple, worried at just how much of Hari's blood he smelled on himself.

Hari, not having expected it and uncertain that the visible and scent signs of the transformation meant that he was truly back to normal having kept her pushing against Inuyasha stumbled forward, finding herself supported, if only briefly, by Inuyasha before stumbling backwards. As her body slowly realized that there was no more threat to be had, she became aware of just how badly she was injured, bringing her uninjured arm to cover the worst of the stomach wound before slowly stumbling towards the others. She had to get her blade out of the ground. Badly injured as she was, that thing stealing her energy further wasn't helping her. More out of determination than anything else, she managed to collapse in front of the barrier, reaching through it to grasp the hilt of her dagger and, after a few weak pulls, remove it from the ground. After that, she knew no more.

When she awoke, she was lying on her cloak in some strange building, nose telling her that the only other person inside was Inuyasha though the others had been here not long ago before she even had a chance to open her eyes. Sitting up, she just barely bit back a pained groan, eyes seeking and finding Inuyasha, who had been told in no uncertain terms that he was going to stay in Kaede's hut until he was fully recovered willingly or Kagome would force him to stay there by way of the subjugation beads.

"So you're finally awake? You were unconscious for two days." He hid it well, but Inuyasha was relieved that Hari was awake.

"You're... yourself?" Hari asked, uncertainly.

"Yea. Miroku and the others told me what had happened, how you were the one to bring me Tetsusaiga."

"What happened?" Hari demanded, voice quavering slightly in fear. "Your scent changed. Scents _don't change_. Not like that. It's supposed to be a gradual change, not immediate." As briefly as he could, Inuyasha explained the transformation. How when he was badly injured and Tetsusaiga wasn't nearby, his demon blood would take over like that. How apparently it was because his human blood was too weak to be able to handle the demonic blood without a seal.

"So it's because you're a half-demon?" Hari asked, standing up slowly and painfully and walking towards a window, shaking badly, though she didn't know if it was from exertion or fear.

"Yea," was the quiet admission.

"Will that happen to me?"

"I..." Inuyasha didn't answer. _Couldn't_ answer. He didn't know.

"_Will that happen to me?"_ At the exclamation, Hari whirled around, eyes wide with fright, ears pinned flat against her skull, and tail thrashing violently.

"I do not believe it will, Hari." Both half-demons turned towards the doorway as Miroku, who had been the one to speak up, entered along with the others except Kagome. "Inuyasha's transformations started because the Tetsusaiga, which was originally forged from one of his father's fangs, was broken. I believe that, much like him, your demonic seal is the blade at your side. Perhaps it is even the fang you wear around your neck. It is one of your mother's fangs, isn't it?" At Hari's hesitant nod, he smiled reassuringly. "Then I do not believe you need to worry about transforming as Inuyasha does." Sitting down, he served himself a bowl of Kaede's soup.

"Now, then, why don't we all eat? I'm sure that you're hungry."

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"She said she had to go home for a few hours to take a test," Sango answered. "We promised her that we wouldn't let you leave, though. Miroku even put a sutra on the doorway to stop you from leaving." Not appreciating the monk trapping him inside a building _again_, Inuyasha sat against the wall, and Hari was willing to swear that he was _pouting_. His visible agitation faded when Kagome returned, however, which made sense. He had claimed Kagome, and that meant that if she, or any of the ones he claimed as his, couldn't be seen, heard, or smelled, it was stressful.

"This isn't your home?" Hari questioned, having found the statement strange and wondering just where her village was that she could walk so quickly to it and return in less than a day.

"Oh! That's right, you haven't been told," Kagome said, before launching into an explanation about the Bone Eater's Well, and how she could travel back and forth through through time from the Warring States to five hundred years in the future by leaping into it, and how she and Inuyasha were the only ones that could use it, and many other strange things that Hari wasn't quite certain she believed. By the end of it, Hari was even more confused than when she had asked Kagome about her home, and was very much regretting the question. The only reason she found herself considering that this strange girl was telling the truth was because of her unusual clothing and objects that she had with her. Objects such as her 'ninja food' and her strange transportable fire. Things that Hari had never seen before and that marked Kagome as being from 'elsewhere' when she had first seen her. Of course, she had assumed that Kagome had come from the continent, or someplace that was unusual, but could at least be imagined. Hearing that she was from the future was... difficult for Hari to grasp.

By the time she had absorbed Kagome's insane tale, the girl was deep into her textbooks and didn't look like she would appreciate being interrupted. She was quickly met with the sympathetic smiles of Sango, Shippo, and Miroku.

"I had a difficult time believing Kagome's tale the first time I heard it, too," Sango said, handing Hari a bowl of soup to replace the one that had long grown cold.

"When I saw her strange clothes, I assumed she was from the continent," Hari said quietly, still slightly stunned.

"As incredible as Kagome's story is to believe, it does seem to be true," Miroku said. Not long after, Kagome decided to give up on studying for the night and the group spent an enjoyable evening talking, or in Hari and Inuyasha's case, listening to the others talk and occasionally commenting on what was said. Still, it was with a much lightened mood than she had woken up with that Hari settled down to sleep that night.

* * *

_AN: I very nearly posted this as two chapters, with the break being the cute and fluffy point of Inuyasha being a gentleman and giving Hari his Fire Rat robe. This was actually three different 'scenes' combined into one long chapter, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The different scenes were Hari mentioning Kaya, the brief bonding with Shippo, and Inuyasha's demon transformation. Because of that, barring random plot bunnies, the story is now shorter than I thought it would be, only having two or three more segments to it, depending on if I break one up or not._

_And I have an unofficial poll for anyone who reads Author's Notes (unofficial because I don't know how to put on in my profile). I do want Hari to have an attack with her claws, but I don't want it to be a clone of Inuyasha's attacks. The only reason the Blades of Blood have the same name is because one, I wanted readers to, for a moment at least, be fooled that it was Inuysha who saved Kagome and two, let's face it, they're blades of blood. I suppose I could have her attack be the actual translation of Inuyasha's attack, as the actual translation is more along the lines of 'Soul Scattering Iron Claw' instead of the mistranslated 'Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer.' My original idea was more 'Claws of Steel' but that's a stupid name. So if anyone has a good name for a claw attack, though I can't promise that the actual name will ever be mentioned, let me know._


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: I suppose it's only fair to warn people, while the language doesn't go higher than a 'T' rating, there _is_ mention of more 'adult' themes in this chapter._

_Disclaimer: Though I doubt anyone actually believes the original owner of Inuyasha writes fanfiction (but wouldn't that be the greatest trolling ever?), no, I still only own my OCs._

* * *

A young half-demon, perhaps ten years old, was crouched low on the forest floor, gazing intently at a rabbit, the rabbit that was about to become food. A quick leap, grab it by the neck, sink claws into its throat, don't let it scream, it'll tell everyone where you are if you do. There, killed.

A noise behind the small child had it whirling around, teeth bared in a snarl as it guarded its hard-earned meal. It was a human girl, maybe five or six. Young enough that she should still be with her parents. Take in the surrounding scents. No, no adults around. So what does this child want?

"Um... aren't you going to eat that?"

"I was until some human interrupted me." That's right. Make yourself as scary as possible. You're bigger and stronger than some human. Maybe she'll run away and leave you in peace.

"Oh... Sorry. I happened to see you and I'm lost and..." Oh, great. Now it's starting to cry. If it does that, then it'll start to scream. And if that happens, then there's no hope of being able to eat.

"Shut up, kid. Let me eat and then I'll take you back to the village." It's an inconvenience, but you know how to hide yourself well enough. With luck, no one will see you.

"You're Hari, right? My dad said that my great, great, great... great, great? uncle was your dad. He always said that you were some evil monster that I should stay away from." The young girl looked Hari up and down, carefully studying her. "But you don't look so evil to me. You just look irritated that I interrupted your lunch."

Five greats? _"Just how old does this kid think I am?"_ Hari thought to herself. The scent of 'kin' was faint, but still strong enough that Hari had already known that the girl was blood. "It's just one great, moron," Hari muttered, tearing into her rabbit and not caring about just how horrified this kid looked at all the blood.

"Don't eat it raw! You'll make yourself sick!" Hari might have laughed if this girl hadn't been so genuinely concerned about her. That hadn't happened in... perhaps fifty years? It was hard to keep track of just how much time had passed.

"I've eaten raw rabbits for years, kid. I'll be fine," Hari said between bites.

"My name isn't kid! It's Kaya!" Kaya looked so earnestly at Hari at this that it was all she could do not to laugh. Looking at the girl, she studied her briefly. Brown hair going every which way, brown eyes that seemed far too large for her, and dirty clothes.

"All right 'Kaya' then," Hari said, turning around and quickly devouring the rest of her rabbit. "Well, I promised to take you to the village, didn't I? Let's get this over with." Hari took quick steps, but kept in sight of her cousin. When the sounds of the village were audible even to a weak human's senses, Hari stopped.

"Keep walking, and you'll reach the village," she said. As Kaya walked past, Hari quickly reached out and grabbed the back of her top, just at the nape of her neck. "And you never saw me, got it? I don't want the villagers knowing how close I am.

"Okay..." Kaya said, looking surprisingly dejected. "Thanks for showing me the way!" She exclaimed, darting off and waving cheerfully. "Oh!" She quickly came to a stop and then ran back a few feet, the second exclamation having stopped Hari in her tracks and causing her to turn around to face her. "It was nice meeting you," Kaya said, smile impossibly large – large enough that Hari was certain there was no way it could naturally fit on the girl's face – and bowing slightly before taking off again with another wave.

"That kid..." Hari shook her head to clear it briskly. There was no way she was ever going to see her cousin again, so she needed to get all thoughts of having someone who actually cared about her out of her head. Her rumbling stomach quickly pushed thoughts of distant family out of her mind in favor of finding more food. There was no telling how long she'd be able to eat in relative peace, after all. She needed to take advantage of what time she had.

"No. I suppose I won't actually see that kid again," Hari mused to herself as she fell asleep.

It was with more than a little surprise, then, when Kaya's scent hit her nose the next day. With the wind in her favor, and no rabbit blood to drown her sense of smell, it was unmistakable. Taking a route through the trees – she was starting to get good at judging how far apart the branches were – she landed a few feet away from Kaya. The girl was holding a bundle of... was that food? A second, surreptitious sniff confirmed what the first one had told her. The girl had food on her.

"Lost again?" Hari questioned, determinedly ignoring the tantalizing smells coming from that cloth bundle.

"Nope. I remembered where you were yesterday," Kaya said, looking proud of herself. "I thought that, since you have to eat raw rabbits, you didn't have a mommy and daddy to make food for you. So I brought you some of my lunch. Here!" Kaya held out the cloth bundle with a cheerful smile. A smile that faded as Hari took several horrified steps back.

"Are you trying to get me killed, kid!" she snarled, hands automatically curling in readiness to use her claws. "If those villagers find out that I'm eating your food, they'll accuse me of stealing it! They'll _kill_ me, do you understand?" It had happened before. Another orphan like herself, roughly her age at the time, had managed to steal some food and had, for reasons Hari hadn't understood at the time, offered her some. Being unskilled in hunting at the time, a five year old Hari desperately took her small portion, eating it as quickly as she could. She had only gotten a few bites in when the first stone flew.

It turned out that the kid had been seen stealing after all. The adults were coming to punish the original thief, but seeing Hari eating some of the food, she had immediately been the one at fault. No matter how much the kid screamed that he had offered her the food on his own, the villagers wouldn't listen, pelting her with stone after stone as she ran away. The scrapes and cuts from the stones healed quickly. The hurt at how the villagers had treated her never had.

Hari's horrified expression took on even more horror when Kaya's lower lip started to tremble. She hadn't meant to make the kid cry! And she was closer to the village than she was the day before. And even if a human didn't hear her crying a demon would and the result would be the same. Hari would be running, again, for her life.

"I... I just wanted to do something nice..." Kaya whimpered a few stray tears escaping. "I didn't mean to make you mad." Her voice had gone up in pitch, painfully so and Hari instinctively pinned her ears back. The tears were flowing a bit more quickly. Any second now, this kid would start screaming and Hari _had_ to keep that from happening.

"Okay! Okay! I believe you!" Hari spoke quickly enough that her words were stumbling over themselves in their haste to calm the kid down. She sighed. "Look, follow me. I know a place that's private enough. If you still wanna share your lunch, I'll eat it there." As quickly as Kaya's tears had started, they stopped, and Hari had to wonder for a moment if this kid hadn't been faking.

True to her word – and desperation to keep the kid from screaming – Hari lead the girl to her preferred hiding place. It wasn't particularly far from the village, and actually was closer than where they had been, but the thickness of the brush meant that, as long as she was quiet, she could blend in and no one really came to this side of the village anyway. The cloth bundle didn't hold much food, a few pieces of meat and some scraps of bread, but to Hari it was a veritable feast.

"Can I meet you here tomorrow?" The innocent question stunned Hari. She nodded her head yes even as she was thinking to herself that she couldn't let herself get attached to her cousin. Even if, by some miracle, she didn't grow out of her strange fondness of her half-demon cousin, she would eventually be too old to bother spending time with her.

"_But it couldn't be that bad to enjoy this now, could it?"_ It was foolish. Hari knew that. But it had been so long since anyone had willingly spent time with her that she was desperate for some companionship.

"Hari? Hari wake up or Inuyasha will leave you behind." The quiet voice from below her startled Hari out of her sleep. It had been a long time since she had thought of Kaya. Her cousin had died a little over a year after meeting her. And during that year, the two had spent as much time as possible with each other. Hari hadn't even known she had died until she happened to see the funeral. It had been some days since she had seen her younger cousin and worry had caused her to move closer to the village than she usually dared. She had paid for it, finding herself chased out of the village. Scumbags hadn't even let her visit her cousin's grave, Hari having to steal whatever precious few moments she could to even place a flower there. With how dangerous her life was, she didn't dare risk the time it would take to cry and her cousin's death had gone un-mourned, even if her cousin's presence had been sorely missed.

Winter had finally blown itself out and while it was still cold early in the morning and late at night, it was definitely spring. With the storms finally having, for the most part, ended, the group was taking up the hunt for the jewel shards earnestly, hoping that Naraku hadn't gotten any more shards.

Hari was quieter than she normally was during the traveling, preoccupied with thoughts of her cousin. At one point, Shippo had hopped up onto her shoulder and was asking her what was bothering her. Barely even looking at the kid, she grabbed his shirt – in the same place she had grabbed Kaya so many years ago, she noticed – and deposited him in the basket of Kagome's bi-sickle, not even breaking stride or talking to anyone.

It wasn't surprising that she was thinking of Kaya. The anniversary of her death was just under a month ago and for the first time since it had happened, Hari hadn't been able to sneak into the village to place a flower on the grave. Guilt over this had been bothering her for quite some time. Perhaps she'd be able to take a day or two away from the group to at least attempt to visit her cousin.

"Hari? Are you all right?" Kagome wasn't answered any more than Shippo had been, but Hari did glance at the girl briefly. She was another reason Kaya had never been far from her mind. The accidental slip of calling Kagome by her cousin's name hadn't been forgotten, and there was a reason she had made the mistake. Kagome was so similar to Kaya. Not in appearance, but in manner. Much like her cousin had, Kagome didn't care if someone was a human or not, treating everyone equally.

The group had stopped to eat lunch and were chatting, Hari having finally coming out of her shell to join in on some of the conversation when Kagome stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked at something behind Inuyasha. Turning her head, curious to see what had upset the girl, Hari saw some strange floating snake-like demon.

She had just opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when she saw Inuyasha with the strangest look on his face. He looked conflicted, as if he badly wanted to go to where this snake-like thing was and he also wanted to stay with the others.

"You should go," Kagome quietly said. Inuyasha hesitated for a moment, mumbled something that might have been an apology, and took off.

"What just happened?" Hari asked after a long and uncomfortable silence. This led to a lengthy summary on just who Kikyo was, and how Kagome was her reincarnation. She also learned about Urasue falsely resurrecting the priestess and even Inuyasha's promise to go to Hell with her after the end of their journey. After everything had been said, Hari sat there for a few moments, absorbing what she had been told.

"How very... human of him," she finally said. This comment was met with a loud and very annoyed exclamation from Inuyasha, who was protesting being called a human, and demanding Hari explain herself, demands that went unanswered. The group continued on their journey in somewhat strained silence, Inuyasha having already been stressed before setting off to meet with Kikyo for reasons that had everything to do with why Kagome had been riding her bi-sickle and not on his back for the past few days. Hari couldn't help but wrinkle her nose as the wind shifted and blew Kagome's scent directly to her. The smell of women during their bleeding period had always been unpleasant for her.

That night, well after everyone else was asleep, Hari's attention was grabbed by the quiet rustle of the trees as Inuyasha leaped from the one he was in to a branch nearer to her own.

"You owe me an explanation," he said quietly.

"Do I?" Hari asked. "Oh, yes. The 'human' comment."

"I am not a human."

Hari sighed. She hadn't really wanted to have this conversation, though she wasn't surprised it was happening. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. Words were clumsy things, had always been and probably always would be.

"Kagome and Sango are both un-mated," she finally said, ignoring Inuyasha's confusion at the seemingly unrelated statement. "The monk technically has, somewhat, claimed Sango, yes, but not in a way that another male could not claim her for himself. Yet, a few days ago, you were not bothered when Sango went into-"

"Oi!" The strangled exclamation from Inuyasha was practically a yelp, and was enough to cause Hari to pause, glancing over at him in confusion.

"_Is he – yes he is."_ She had to quickly swallow her laughter at just how _red_ Inuyasha's face had become, smirking slightly in amusement. There was room for some fun to be had.

"Come now, Inuyasha. Surely you're old enough to talk about females going into heat without embarrassment," she stated, voice determinedly bland.

"That has nothing to do with this. Quit changing the subject!" This time, Hari couldn't quite contain her amusement, quiet laughter shaking her shoulders for a brief moment.

"I'm not. This is relevant," she finally said when she had her laughter under control. "As I was saying, you weren't bothered when Sango went into heat a few days ago. But when Kagome went into heat, you were immediately stressed. Demon males, as far as I know from the few times I've seen them around females in heat, don't care _who_ the female is, caring only that she's fertile. The only reason you were stressed is because your human _and_ demon sides both want Kagome." She had to stop to laugh quietly at just how uncomfortable Inuyasha was with this conversation.

"_Serves him right for demanding it,"_ Hari decided before continuing on.

"And Kagome very obviously feels the same towards you," she paused long enough to give a quiet warning snarl of 'stay put' to Inuyasha, who looked about ready to leave when discussion of Kagome's feelings came up. First option having failed him, Inuyasha started to deny knowing what Hari was talking about. This was just as quickly stopped by another warning snarl.

"I am not playing this game, Inuyasha. You have the others convinced that you are either blind, an idiot, or both. I am not. Half-demons do _not_ survive to adulthood as we have by being either. You know _exactly_ how Kagome feels, and I don't understand why you pretend that you don't.

"From what I understand of what I was told, Kikyo is _dead_. The only thing, from an instinctive standpoint that you owe her is vengeance and memory. The fact that you are planning on joining her in death is completely human."

"You don't understand, either," Inuyasha sighed. "I _have_ to go with Kikyo. I owe her. She died for me. The least I can do is the same." Inuyasha's tone of voice had Hari's gaze shooting to him, carefully studying him, from the dejected position of his ears, to how he was slumped over.

That was when she realized it. Inuyasha very much did _not_ want to die. If he felt he had a choice, he would choose to stay with Kagome instead of joining Kikyo in Hell. He was right. She _didn't_ understand. Demons could feel just as strongly as humans could, it was true, but tended not to make decisions based on those emotions, instead tending more towards their instincts. And from a purely instinctive point of view, the matter was simple. Inuyasha was interested, Kagome was interested and able to have children, Kikyo was perhaps interested but _not_ able to have children and was therefore not an option. This sort of emotional thought process? That was entirely human and Hari suspected Inuyasha knew that.

"I'm not saying that you're wrong, Inuyasha. Or that you shouldn't join this woman in death after your journey is over. That is your decision to make, and yours alone," Hari finally said. She felt that it was a _stupid_ decision, but it wasn't her place to tell him what he could and couldn't do.

"But what I understand the least, and what frustrates and angers me the most about this is that you have something that a few months ago I would have readily _killed_ for in those people down there. They accept you for who you are and they _want_ you around. I've somehow earned their acceptance, but I can't say that I would be missed if I were to leave now by anyone but Kagome. These people treat you like family, and you're willing to throw that away for someone who's dead.

"The dead are only owed our memory, Inuyasha. I can't think of anyone among the living who would say you still owe Kikyo anything after you have avenged her death." Hari sighed, and shook her head. "But as you said, I don't understand what you're going through. If you believe you owe her your life, then it's your decision to give it to her." Whatever else Hari had to say on this was stopped when she abruptly stiffened in her perch, going to the very edge of the branch she was on with her ears swiveling every which way and nostrils flaring as she took in as many scents as possible. Something was wrong. She couldn't see, hear, or smell anything, but she could _feel_ it.

"You, too?" The question was barely heard, she wasn't even sure she actually asked it until Inuyasha had answered.

"Yea. Something's out there," was the equally quiet answer.

Inuyasha and Hari kept a quiet vigil that entire night, but fortunately, nothing disturbed their camp. The next day, Inuyasha and Hari kept their vigil, both of them on edge and ready for anything. Seeing this had the side effect of putting the others on edge as well, and so it was with a strained silence that the group carefully made their way.

When they came to an abandoned village, Inuyasha and Hari stepped inside with no trouble, but the others were stopped by a barrier. Trying to go back to rejoin them, Inuyasha and Hari were stopped by the same barrier, a barrier too strong for even the red Tetsusaiga to penetrate.

"Seems that something wants us," Hari growled. "If we destroy whoever's put up this barrier, it'll go away, right?" Her question was met with an affirmative nod, so both half-demons set about searching.

They hadn't gotten far when they heard a noise behind them, turning to find something neither would have ever expected.

"K-Kaya..." Hari's face was completely bloodless and her eyes wider than they had ever been. Her ears were flicking back and forth in confused fear, and her tail was twitching uncertainly. This was her cousin, looking and even _smelling_ the same as she had in life.

"Kaya you... you're dead..."

"It's been a long time, Hari," the young girl said with a sweet smile, advancing towards her cousin. "I'm lonely in the afterlife. Of all my family, I liked you the best. You said once that you'd do anything I asked. So you'll die for me, won't you?"

"Hari, look out!" Inuyasha yelled, pulling the still stunned girl out of the way of an attack that had come from the girl in front of them.

"I didn't ask for your interference," Kaya said, glaring at Inuyasha. "This is between me and my cousin." Despite her hard expression, and despite the fact that she had just tried to kill Hari, Kaya's face never lost the sweet smile it had.

"Come on, Hari. You _promised_ that you'd do what I asked as long as you could. And you never even mourned my death. I thought you loved me? Why wouldn't you mourn?"

"Kaya..." Hari was stricken. She _couldn't_ mourn. Why didn't Kaya understand? She distantly heard Inuyasha saying something. But she couldn't understand any of it, all she could hear were her cousin's accusing words, see only the sweet smile and hurt eyes.

Instinct more than conscious thought led her to dodge the next attack, and the several following ones.

"_Kaya, I don't understand. Why are you here? Why are you trying to kill me?"_ Realization slowly dawned on her. This wasn't Kaya. Her sweet cousin would _never_ ask her to die, would never try and take her life.

With a scream of rage, she shot towards this false Kaya, claws ready to tear out this thing's throat when, as if on strings, she leaped several yards back.

"Impressive." The male voice came from somewhere beyond her eyesight. "I hadn't thought filthy half-breeds like you would be able to see through the technique.

"How _dare_ you mock the memory of my cousin!" Hari snarled.

"Half-breeds do not get the luxury of speaking to me like that!" The attack came from the left and Hari deftly twisted out of the way, only to be hit by a second attack that she couldn't get out of the way of.

"You will both die here. At the hands of your memories. First the wolf, then the dog."

Hari didn't even know she was trembling until Inuyasha was having to support her.

"I owe you an apology, it would seem," Hari said quietly. "I think I understand now just why you act the way you do towards Kikyo. I also owe you my thanks. If you hadn't pulled me out of the way, I would have let that mockery of Kaya kill me. If I hadn't been so stunned I still would have..." Hari quickly shook her head, stepping away from Inuyasha and closing her eyes against her memories.

"So Kaya was your cousin?"

"Kaya. She..." For a moment, Hari's voice cracked, causing her to fall silent. When she spoke again, it was with a determinedly detached and emotionless voice. "Kaya was the only one in my family, human or demon, who ever cared about me. I only had a year with her before the winter and sickness took her." After a lengthy pause, she spoke again, this time with a voice full of rage.

"Whoever that monster is, he is mocking the memory of my sweet cousin, twisting and perverting it. When I find him, his death will be slow and painful." Declaration made, Hari set out to do just that.

She hadn't gotten very far, however, when a childish laugh from behind her had her whirling around and then leaping away from another attack.

"What's wrong, Hari? You're not happy to see me? Didn't you miss your cousin at _all_?"

"You are not my cousin!" Hari snarled, again moving to attack this mockery. She had only gotten within inches, however, when she found her body stopping of its own volition. How could she kill someone that looked, sounded, and smelled like the only family she had after her father died? Another giggle had her leaping away, sentiment forcing her to run instead of fight.

She couldn't dodge attacks she couldn't see, however. Most of the attacks she was able to hear in time to know when to dodge, but this fake Kaya still managed to land more hits than she missed.

Eventually, Hari could run no more, finding herself cornered.

"You will join me in the afterlife, cousin. And master Rentaroo will be pleased." 'Kaya' said, smile never having left her face as she lifted her arms for one final attack.

"_NO!"_ Hari yelled, determinedly running towards the fake, heart steeled against any and all sentiment. The fake Kaya's screams tore through the air as she died, blood staining her hand. The puppet, it seemed, was a shapeless bag of flesh and blood. It was only the demon's power that had allowed it to take on the form of Kaya.

For a long moment, Hari felt nothing. Not satisfaction, not pleasure, not even anger at the desecration of her cousin's memory.

Then she started trembling. Slowly at first, almost imperceptibly. Then her tremblings turned into shivers, and her breathing became slightly harsher.

"_It wasn't real. It wasn't real."_ Over and over again, Hari repeated the mantra in her mind. It wasn't real. It hadn't been her cousin.

Her cousin whom she had loved. Her cousin who had loved her back. Her cousin who had been willing to share her food with someone who had for her entire life been called a monster. Her cousin whose image she had just struck down. Her cousin who she had killed in effigy.

Hari didn't know when she had collapsed to the ground legs too weak to hold her. Her ragged breathing became harsh gasps. Gasps became whimpers. Whimpers became quiet moans. Claws left ten shallow trenches in the dirt as her hands formed into fists in her desperation to calm herself down, to not draw attention to herself. When her emotions could no longer be held in check, Hari threw her head back as a scream tore from her throat. It was a scream of anger, a scream of mourning, a scream of _loss_. Anger that her cousin was dead. Anger at this scumbag who would dare mock her memory like this. Anger at herself for never allowing herself to mourn for even a moment. It was a cry announcing to the world that someone dear had passed. It was a brazen challenge to the world of the living, daring anyone alive who could hear to interrupt, dare to not allow her to mourn. It was a desperate plea to the world of the dead, a plea that the one who was lost would hear her cry and know that she was missed. A plea that this final goodbye could be heard if not acknowledged. It was a cry that, like herself, was neither human nor demonic. It had the plaintive wail of a human, and the growl of a wolf.

When she could scream no more, Hari collapsed onto the ground, curling into as tight of a ball as she could and wept long, loud, and bitter tears. Kaya had been dead for a little over two hundred years. And Hari had tears for every day of her passing.

Inuyasha had separated from Hari, both of them deciding, somewhat against their better judgment, to split up to cover more ground. He was currently perched on the roof of a building, hoping that this vantage would let him see wherever this demon that had trapped them here was. He was just about to leap down and continue searching when Hari's scream rent the air.

"Idiot!" He cried, already moving towards it. Was she trying to get herself killed? Who knew what other threats this place held.

When he reached Hari, she had only just finished screaming, and seeing just how heartbroken she was, all anger left. She had been too upset to even use her dagger's ability to put up a barrier, and was too caught up in her grief to even know he was there. Her tears made him fervently wish Kagome was there. Kagome would know what to do, maybe even know how to stop her tears.

Instead of clumsily attempting to comfort Hari, Inuyasha pulled out his blade and leaped on top of a building so that he had a good vantage of both Hari and the surrounding area. He was useless when it came to tears, he knew that. But he could and would make sure that nothing was able to reach Hari while she was mourning.

And while there was a disturbance, it wasn't in the form of an enemy.

"Wow! Hari got big! I mean, she was always bigger than me cause she was older, but now she's really big. You look like Hari. Are you my cousin, too? Why don't you have a tail like she does?" Inuyasha whirled around and saw a little girl there, a ghost given her lack of scent.

"You're Kaya?" He ignored the questions asked in favor of getting answers from this girl and continuing his vigil over the still weeping wolf below.

"Yep! She screamed so loud for me that I wanted to come see her. But I wasn't allowed to talk to her. There are 'rules' for visiting the living, and right now she's too upset to be able to hear me." Kaya's cheerful smile faded as she said this. "And even if she could, I'm not s'posed to talk to her. Stupid rules." Kaya brightened up moments later and turned her smile back onto Inuyasha. "But I was allowed to talk to you! You look like a decent person, too. And don't worry, I was kidding when I asked if we were related, I know we're not."

"What do you want?" Inuyasha was quickly losing patience for the hyper seven year old.

"Oh, right! I don't get to be here very long so I should probably make this quick. I really, really, _really_ want you to look after my cousin. Just until she feels better about me being dead. I know she was really sad when the villagers would never let her visit my grave, and she probably feels bad right now that she never was able to let it show that she missed me. You can do that, right? Please? She _always_ looked after me when I would visit her. She even chased off a demon that was as tall as a tree once!" Kaya's eyes went wide as she told the story. "It wanted to eat me because it liked the taste of humans, but Hari wouldn't let it. It knocked her into this big tree and I thought I was gonna _die_, but then Hari was on it's back clawing at it and then it was dead. Only then she made me go home because it wasn't safe. So that's why you've gotta look after her. Because she's _never_ had anyone do that, and I think it would be nice if she did. So you'll do that, right?"

Inuyasha was a little stunned at just how quickly this girl hopped from one topic to the next, almost too quickly for him to follow – and he very much doubted that the demon in Kaya's story was as tall as a tree; bigger than both of them, perhaps, but not that big. He did understand, though, that just as much as Hari had loved Kaya, the little girl in front of him had loved Hari. He sighed and nodded. Hari was strong enough to take care of herself, but he could at least look after her until they left this village.

"All right, kid. But only for a little while."

"Yay! Thank you!" Kaya jumped up and down and clapped in excitement before frowning again. "I've gotta go now. If you tell Hari that I came to visit, you've _gotta_ tell her that I get why she couldn't mourn me being dead and I never got mad at her for it." Before Inuyasha had a chance to answer, the ghost was gone. Below him, Hari's tears had finally started to slow as she cried herself out.

The flood of emotions had started slowly, and had stopped just as slowly. Loud, body-wracking sobs quieted, slowly turning into the quiet whimpers from earlier. Those whimpers slowly turned into quiet sniffs as her tears slowed and finally stopped flowing entirely. Breathing went from short, sharp gasps whenever she could take them to harsh, shuddering breaths that slowly, almost agonizingly, evened out. Finally Hari was still and silent, tears finally finished. For now, at least, she had had her chance to mourn and had gotten the emotions out. She had seen humans mourn the loss of loved ones and it always happened that they would cry many, many times over a period of weeks, sometimes even months. Perhaps it would be the same for her. But for now, at least, the emotions had lessened.

For a long moment, she remained in her curled position. She very clearly smelled Inuyasha and wondered how long he had been up on that roof. It was worrying to realize that she was so caught up in her own grief that she had had _no_ idea that anyone else was there. If it had been someone who wanted to kill her... she let out an involuntary shudder at the realization that she could very easily be dead. Finally, she slowly sat up, muscles that had tried to lock themselves into the curled position she was in protesting the movement, but it was an easily ignorable pain.

"How long have you been up there?" She asked quietly, voice cracking slightly.

"Does it matter?" was the answer as Inuyasha leaped down to land softly next to her. He didn't mention her break down, and neither did she. While they had been trapped in the cave, Kagome had told her that Inuyasha didn't like talking about feelings or anything like that, which was likely the main reason for his silence now. Hari was grateful, though. She didn't want to talk about it any more than he did.

Inuyasha did mention, however, her cousin visiting. He didn't go into any details on what Kaya had said, only that she had wanted Hari to know that she understood and wasn't angry that Hari hadn't mourned her death until then. He also mentioned that Kaya had a difficult time staying on one subject. Despite herself, Hari laughed slightly. That was her cousin. She had so many things going on in her mind, that she just had to say them all.

It took them a little over a day to find this 'Rentaroo' that the false Kaya had mentioned. Despite her claims of granting him a slow and painful death, the 'Demon of Memories' as he called himself was killed quickly, and it was Inuyasha's Wind Scar that had dealt the final blow.

When Kagome and the others rejoined them, the first thing that Kagome asked was if they were all right, that they had heard screaming and were worried.

"We're fine. As if a weak demon like that could actually hurt anyone," Inuyasha boasted.

"Hari, are you all right? Those screams were definitely female," Kagome asked again.

"I'm fine. Like Inuyasha said, it was a weak demon." Kagome and the others didn't look completely convinced, but they thankfully didn't press the subject. If the two half-demons wanted to talk about what had happened in the village, they would do so on their own time.

Since Kagome didn't sense any jewel shards, the group wasted no time continuing their journey.

* * *

_AN: So I know that people might look at the 'Kaya trying to kill Hari' bit and compare it to Kikyo and Inuyasha. And while I can see that comparison, it was actually completely unintentional. The scene that I actually had in my mind that it's similar to is from _Vampire Princess Miyu_ for anyone whose seen it where Chisato, Miyu's best friend, ended up being the ultimate villain. It's been years since I've watched that anime, but if I recall correctly, during their final confrontation, much like Kaya did, Chisato asked Miyu to die for her. Just a small UBI for y'all._

_Another fun fact, the scene were Hari has her breakdown is the main reason that this story exists at all. Of all the scenes that kept replaying in my head that were intended for this story, that one scene was the one that cycled through my mind the most and was the most determined for me to write it. So for anyone who's reading and enjoying this story, you can thank that one particular scene. That scene also kicked my butt as I was writing it, and I ended up being too sad to write the rest of the chapter for an hour or two. I hope I did a good job with it._


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own my OCs and nothin' else._

* * *

They had spent three weeks now on the road and found nothing. It was frustrating for all of them, and a little boring as there hadn't even been any strong demons to fight, only a few weaklings that were killed almost before the fight had started. The only problems seemed to be Inuysha and Kagome's near-constant fights and Kagome's stress over her schoolwork.

The group came to an abrupt halt, however, when the wind shifted and brought the distinct smell of blood, and a lot of it, to everyone with demonic senses. Quickly preparing for battle, the group broke into a run.

They arrived to a slaughter. Bandits had come through the village and destroyed everything, killing everyone in their path. Inyasha, Hari, and even Shippo and Kirara all sniffed around, but the smell of blood was too powerful and the bodies too cold for there to be any hope of catching the bandits. Sighing, the group got to work digging graves for all the villagers.

The work stopped suddenly, however, when a small, plaintive cry was heard by Kagome, who called out to the others. Instantly, they rushed over and started working to pull rubble from a burned house away from the source of the cries. It was a young girl, about five or six. Kagome, who was the most mothering of the group, led her away while the others finished digging graves.

They found Kagome holding a still weepy girl. All Kagome had been able to find out so far was that her name was Hitomi, and that her parents were both dead.

"What are we going to do? We can't leave her by herself, but we also can't take her with us, it's too dangerous," Kagmome said worriedly once Hitomi had finally cried herself to sleep.

"I know this area well enough," Hari said after a few long moments of thought. "The mountains where I spent most of my life aren't far off, and I spent a lot of time exploring them and looking out at what's around them. I know where a few villages are. One of them will probably be able to take her in."

The offer was met with varying degrees of upset. The others had gotten used to Hari's presence, and she had managed to become a friend to all of them. Inuyasha, however, looked ready to shoot the offer down without even giving it a moment's thought, which Hari found unusual.

Studying his posture and face, she saw that this was more than him simply being unhappy with the offer. He looked decidedly _agitated_ about it. Which didn't make sense. Being agitated about her leaving would only happen if...

"_He claimed me,"_ Hari suddenly realized. She recognized the agitation for what it was, having felt it herself whenever Kaya had been out of sight while she had been alive. At some point during the few months she had spent with this odd group, the half-demon had claimed her. The realization was both startling and comforting. She honestly hadn't expected anyone to claim her as their own, expecting to spend the rest of her life alone. It was nice, however, to have a family of sorts.

"The nearest village isn't too far off," she said after a while. "The trip should only take a month or so, and then I can return to Kaede's village and wait for you there." A small sound from her left brought her gaze to Hitomi, who was starting to wake up.

Kagome briefly explained Hari's offer to her, and Hitomi nodded her head slightly, though she looked uneasy about it.

"_Probably doesn't want to travel with someone who looks like me,"_ Hari thought, but she didn't show her thoughts on her face, and she also didn't voice them.

"We can leave tomorrow," she said, smiling at the girl while being careful not to show her fangs. Mentally, she was going over every inch of those mountains, trying to decide the shortest route that would also allow for the easiest travel. After all, small human children weren't as hardy as adult half-demons, and even if Hari had only been Hitomi's age, she still would have been hardier thanks to her demonic blood.

The next morning, the group enjoyed one last breakfast as an entire group before Hari picked up Hitomi and set off at a quick pace towards the mountains. Her quick speed and high leaps were met with shrieks of delighted laughter by the small child.

When they finally stopped for the night, Hari having caught a large meal and starting a small but warm fire for the little girl, the first pangs of loneliness hit her. The little girl was fine as a traveling companion, but she definitely missed Kagome and the others.

"_It should only take one month,"_ she reminded herself, _"then I can rejoin them."_

It ended up being much longer than the one month, however, before Hari found a village for Hitomi that she was satisfied would take adequate care of the child before she found herself having to leave. By then, summer was just starting to turn into fall, and Hari ended up being trapped in the mountains by heavy storms well into mid-winter. And then it was a long trip back to Kaede's village.

Spring was just starting to appear when she finally reached the village. She was greeted warmly by Sango and Miroku, who had just celebrated their marriage.

The reunion turned melancholic when they explained what had happened to Kagome. They then went on to explain that Inuyasha wasn't taking her absence well, jumping into the well every three days.

"He should be there right now," Sango said sadly. Kagome's absence was hitting them all hard, though none were as affected as Inuyasha had been. Hari nodded and, remembering where the little clearing was that housed the Bone Eater's Well, headed off.

When she reached there, she was just in time to see Inuyasha jump in. He exited moments later, with a heartbroken expression. He didn't head back to the village right away, instead sitting next to the well looking close enough to tears that Hari was actually shocked that she couldn't smell any.

The briefest glance in her direction told Hari that he knew she was there, but neither of them said anything. Instead, Hari leaped to the tree closest to where he was sitting, and made herself comfortable. They sat that way in silence for a few hours before Inuyasha finally headed back to the village. Instead of immediately following, Hari leaped down next to the well and tried to figure out how the thing worked and what was keeping it from working now. Sighing, she tried once, futilely, to make it work herself by jumping in, hoping that even if neither Inuyasha nor Kagome could get through, if the well would let her through, she could relay a message from the girl. She was unsurprised when the well refused to let her pass, and instead made her way to Kaede's hut, where what was left of the group, with the notable exception of Shippo, were eating a quiet meal.

The pattern continued for a few weeks. Every three days exactly, Inuyasha would leap into the well, and Hari would sit nearby, sometimes next to him, offering silent comfort and companionship. They never said a word, but Hari still believed that the thought was appreciated, even if Inuyasha would never actually say as much.

The group was eating lunch and chatting companionably one day when Miroku spoke up.

"So, Hari, we've told you all about how we've been, and neglected to ask how you fared during those months apart. Did you manage to find a village for Hitomi to stay in?" It was a harmless question, and asked with good intentions. Nonetheless, the reaction was still unexpected by the group. Hari's face, which had been in a small but happy smile, immediately clouded, and she stood up without a word and walked a small way out of the village, sitting at the base of a tree with a sad sigh.

In a reversal of roles, it was Inuyasha who sat nearby in silent companionship. Quietly, almost reluctantly, Hari explained how, yes, she had found a village to take Hitomi in, but it hadn't taken long before the humans, in their fear and hatred of demons and half-demons, had chased her out, turning even the child who she had protected and provided for for months against her.

One month after she had returned to Kaede's village, Hari left without telling anyone. She was tired of seeing just how upset Inuyasha was over Kagome's loss, and was determined to find a way to fix it. During their recounting of their travels, the group had mentioned a few names several times, people that they had managed to become friends and allies with. Perhaps they would know of a way.

She first sought out and found Koga, whose name she already knew from the few times she had come across wolf demons in the past. Koga was upset by the news, but didn't know any way to help. He did, however, promise that, when he had time, he would try and find a way to find it.

During her first human night on her trip, she found herself near a shrine. Having an idea, she made her way to the priest, and asked if he had any idea on how to unseal the well, though she was careful not to mention any names, merely that it was a well with strange properties that had suddenly ceased to work. The priest was happy to offer her food and shelter for the night, and even listened to her tale, but was unhelpful beyond that.

She asked anyone who she thought would be able to help and listen, though people to ask were sadly few and far between. She even asked, in one terrifying encounter, Sesshomaru, having come across him by chance and recognizing the smell of 'kin.' The older demon had glared at her and told her in no uncertain terms that he did not "consider the half-demon to be my brother" and was then informed that if she dared disturb him about Inuyasha again, he would kill her. She very quickly ran away after that, not caring that she did so, literally, with her tail tucked between her legs. It was with shaking legs that she finally stopped once she could no longer smell either him or the toad that accompanied him.

Despite Sesshomaru's words, when she returned to Kaede's village for a few days, Inuasha mentioned that the last time he had been over with something for Rin, he had stopped by the well, and had even lingered there for a few minutes. The group puzzled quietly over why he had done so, and Hari smiled privately to herself.

"_So there's an older brother in there after all,"_ she thought to herself as she set off again. There were still people she might be able to ask, and she wasn't going to give up until a solution had been found.

Totosai, of all the demons she found, was the most helpful. While the master swordsmith did not know of any ways to unseal the well, or why it had seemingly sealed itself in the first place, much like Koga he promised to try and find a solution. He also very helpfully sharpened her dagger for her, and even managed to make it so that it didn't take quite so much of her energy when it formed a barrier, which was very appreciated.

She continued to seek out monks, priests, and priestesses on her human nights. The only exception to this, albeit one she was reluctant to test in case she was wrong, was Mushin, Miroku's master. Her concerns over at attempted purification were allayed, however, when she smelled Hachi's presence. If he allowed a full demon to stay with him, then surely a half-demon wouldn't offend him. Mushin she found to be friendly, if somewhat frustrating. The older monk was more than happy to share his sake with her as they talked. Despite not having intended to, Hari ended up spending a few days with the monk, helping him around the temple in exchange for company, conversation, and sake.

As the years passed, however, she started to lose hope in ever finding a solution. A little over two years after setting off on her mission, she returned, dejectedly, to Kaede's village. She had finally decided to simply apologize to Inuyasha, but she couldn't find any way to bring Kagome back despite searching everywhere she could think of.

It was to her surprise, then, when as the wind shifted, she caught Kagome's unmistakable scent. Disbelieving it at first, she took another, careful scent, ears slowly perking up and tail wagging hopefully as a smile broke out on her face. Taking off as quickly as she could, she landed in front of Inuyasha and Kagome, whose scents told her that they had mated, or as the humans put it 'married.'

"You made it back," she said, tail wagging happily, if slightly embarrassingly.

"It's good to see you, too, Hari," Kagome said, hugging her before remembering that, much like Inuyasha, Hari wasn't particularly comfortable with hugs. Hari stayed for a week before leaving, briefly, to tell people who had promised to look for a solution that Kagome had returned, only to discover that with the exception of Mushin, all of them already knew.

Hari was happy for her friends. Inuyasha was visibly happier now, and didn't care who noticed, and Kagome was thrilled to finally be with the man she loved and who loved her back.

She was privately sure, however, that it was not their love that would be remembered, but their fights. It seemed that every day, Hari was woken up by them fighting each other over something, waking her up frequently from her perch on a nearby tree.

"Are they trying to wake all of Japan?" she mused aloud after one such fight, leaping down since there was no way she would get back to sleep with them yelling like that.

Their fights, already bad, only escalated when Kagome got pregnant. Inuyasha meant well, but he tended to hover over Kagome, whose temper was made worse thanks to raging hormones, which led to them both fighting even more loudly than before.

When it came time for Kagome to give birth, Hari's task changed from assisting to sitting on a male half-demon who suddenly forgot exactly what 'no men allowed' meant. It was only due to having managed to coax Inuyasha into roughhousing a few times in the past that she knew how he grappled, which allowed her to keep him busy just long enough for Kagome to finish giving birth. She was immediately shoved away by Inuyasha as he went inside to see his child.

Kagome and Inuyasha exited moments later with a child in each arm. Kagome had had twins, a boy and a girl, who they named Sota and Kikyo respectively.

The twins were instantly popular with the entire group, and Kagome and Inuyasha had no shortage of people willing to care for their children. Hari quickly became a favorite aunt, with the children almost constantly asking her to show off her skills, and take them hunting (which wasn't allowed since they were too young).

Kagome had only been back for a few years when Hari started noticing subtle signs of aging on all the humans of the group. Again without warning, she set off on another trip, trying to find a way to allow at least Kagome to live as long as Inuyasha would. Unlike before, the only person of the cloth she visited was Mushin, who was getting on in years and, Hari was sure, wouldn't live for much longer.

Her belief was proven right as, right when she came to visit after spending a few months away, she saw the others there, sadly standing around his grave.

"Hari," Miroku said sadly. "Mushin said that you visited him sometimes. I am sorry you weren't here when he passed. He asked for me to relay a message to you. He said that he is sorry, but he knows of no way to do what you asked. I was hoping you could tell me what he meant."

Hari didn't answer, instead leaping onto a perch and sitting in silence while the others visited his grave. Miroku's visit lasted the longest, and Hari was sorry that he lost the man who raised him. That night, when the others were asleep and had said what they needed, Hari walked towards his grave. She set down two cups and a jug of sake, pouring a small amount into each cup. Lifting hers, she raised it in a silent toast before drinking it.

"Thanks for looking, old man," she said respectfully, walking away and leaving both cup and jug where they sat.

As they left Mushin's temple, the sky darkened ominously, and suddenly. Moments later, Totosai was there.

"Totosai? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked.

"I was looking for Hari. Every time she seeks me out, it's with some impossible request. I thought I would seek her out this time before she thought of another one."

"When did Hari seek you out?" Kagome asked.

"You didn't tell them?" The sword master peered curiously at Hari and scratched his head. For her part, Hari was looking away, ears and tail lowered and blushing madly.

"It didn't seem like something they needed to know," she muttered quietly.

"The first time she sought me out was to ask me if I knew of any way to unseal the well so that Kagome could return to us," Totosai said, pretending not to have heard Hari. "Then she came back hoping I knew how to give Kagome and the other humans a demonic life-span."

Hari didn't have time to see anything more than Inuyasha's stunned expression before Kagome had tightly embraced her, thanking her over and over again for her thoughtfulness.

"And?" Hari asked, prying Kagome off of her.

"You asked for the impossible. The life spans of humans and demons is set in stone, and cannot be changed," Totosai answered.

"I see," Hari said, ears and tail lowering dejectedly. "Thank you for looking. Next time I see you, I'll be sure to ask for something more doable, like going to the moon." The last was said with an amused smile as she tried to cheer the group up.

"Is that what you were doing all those times you left for months at a time without notice?" Miroku asked. Hari silently nodded in the affirmative, blush having deepened in strength.

"I heard she even asked Shesshomaru about unsealing the well," Totosai said.

"And was immediately threatened with death," Hari said, wanting very much for this particular line of topic to be finished.

"So that's what Mushin meant," Sango mused quietly. Far too slowly for Hari's comfort, the topic changed to other things as the group made their slow trip back to the village.

The human's looming mortality was pushed to the side as everyone focused simply on living. But one day as a thirty-three year old Kagome was walking home with the others, she told her children and Inuyasha to go ahead, and asked to speak privately with Hari. Nothing was said until Hari told Kagome that she could no longer hear Inuyasha, and from his scent he had reached their home. Assured that her husband couldn't hear them, Kagome finally spoke.

"Hari, I'm sure you know this, but I'm getting older all the time and Inuyasha isn't," she said sadly. As the years started to show on Kagome, Sango, and Miroku, time seemed to have halted for Inuyasha, Hari, and Shippo, who had only aged one year in this time.

"He knew this would happen when he took you as his mate," Hari said simply, not certain where this conversation was going.

"In a few years, I'm going to die," Kagome continued.

"Again, he knew this already," Hari said, wishing Kagome would get to the point as the human's mortality wasn't something she liked thinking about.

"I wanted to ask you to stay with Inuyasha once I'm gone," Kagome said, looking earnestly at Hari. "He was alone for so long, I don't want him to be alone again."

Hari was stunned, not having expected the question. She didn't say anything, merely nodding her assurance that she'd do so. Kagome's grateful hug was awkwardly returned, and the two continued the trek to Kagome's home.

Only a few years later, twelve years after the birth of Kagome and Inuyasha's children, did it become apparent that the lack of aging from the half-demons was noticed by more than Kagome and Hari.

Sota and Kikyo, who used to excitedly run to Hari whenever they saw her, had started acting more coolly towards her, speaking in flatter tones. Hari chalked their changing attitudes towards her up to them aging. Being only quarter-demon, the slowed aging that their demonic blood would grant them had yet to kick in. No one exactly knew when it would, or how much longer than humans they would live, but were still fairly certain that they would have slightly extended life spans. What she couldn't understand, however, was why they were always certain she was there to see Inuyasha. Many times they would tell her that their 'father wasn't here' when Hari could _smell_ that he wasn't there, and had in fact been there to see them or their mother, or even Sango and Miroku's children. It was unusual, but unconcerning. It didn't take long for her lack of concern over this to turn on her.

She was in the forest, looking for a rabbit to eat when she heard an attack coming from behind her. Acting with reflexes finely honed over centuries, she moved out of the way of the projectile – an arrow, before having to dodge another one.

Turning around, she saw only Kikyo and Sota. Certain that there must be some threat that she hadn't sensed, she stood still, turning her ears and taking in deep breaths through her nose. She was so focused on the surrounding area that she only barely dodged another attack. Tracking the arrow, she saw that it could only have come from Kikyo.

"Stay away from our father!" Sota yelled, firing another arrow.

"What are you talking about?" Hari questioned, leaping away easily.

"Don't pretend you don't know!" Kikyo yelled, firing an arrow at the same time as her brother. "You plan on taking mom's place! We won't let you! Stay away from dad!"

Hari was shocked. When had she ever said she was planning on taking Kagome's place? Unwilling to fight back against the two children she had helped with raising, she retreated, barely hearing Kagome's yelling for her children, demanding to know what they were doing. As she ran away, she slowly understood. They had been seen how their mother, who had more than her share of gray hairs by this point, was aging constantly and their father looked barely older than they were. They had also seen how Hari was equally ageless, and just how frequently she had visited the family. They had been acting out of fear. She sighed, not certain what to do. It wasn't as if she could keep Kagome from aging and eventually dying any more than she could age herself or Inuyasha to mach her.

"I'll just stay away," she decided. "I'll only come when Kagome is there, and make sure to keep my distance from Inuyasha." She wasn't happy with the solution, and she was determinedly ignoring the fact that this same problem would arise when Kagome did eventually die, and had in fact originated because of Kagome's eventual death. She had promised Kagome she wouldn't leave Inuyasha, and she wasn't about to break it. Sighing, she settled against the tree, hoping by some miracle that an answer would come to her.

Hours later, an ear twitched as a sound reached her. It was the whisper of feet rushing through the grass. A quick inhale told her that it was just Inuyasha, returned from a demon exterminating job with Miroku. So Kagome had told him. She didn't open her eyes as she heard him leaping into the tree, settling himself on the branch just in above her.

For his part, Inuyasha was irritated, but not with Hari. He had only just returned from an unexpectedly difficult job, and instead of spending time with his family like he wanted, he was in a tree with Hari, who Kagome had tearfully told him his children had attacked and wouldn't explain why, saying only that they had to keep Hari away from him.

"Should I ever have children, Inuyasha," Hari suddenly said, breaking the silence, "remind me to not take them to you for fighting. I have never had an easier job dodging arrows."

Inuyasha's first reaction was to be angry that she had insulted his ability to teach is children to fight, as well as his children's abilities. Then the meaning of what she had said sunk in.

"So they did attack you?" Inuyasha sighed.

"I didn't believe it either, at first," Hari said sadly. Then she sighed. "Well, it's not like it's the first time someone I cared about turned on me," she added sadly, thoughts turning to Hitomi.

"Why?" Inuyasha asked. "Kagome said they wouldn't tell her, only saying they had to keep you away from me." His question was met with a bitter laugh from the person in question.

"Your children aren't blind, Inuyasha. And they're not stupid. They can see easily enough that Kagome is getting older and you're not. Then they see me, someone with the same amount of demonic blood as you, who's just as seemingly ageless as you. They think I'm a threat, that I plan on taking their mother's place. I don't blame them, I'd think the same in their position. We both know that I wouldn't do that, but I'm not sure they'd believe it even if we told them." After a moment, she opened her eyes and glanced up at him. He looked a little shocked, and also upset, and also a little confused as to what to do.

"You were gone for a few days. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit in a tree with me," Hari said with a small smile. "Get going. Kagome will probably want to know what happened and why."

"Right," Inuyasha said, leaping down. He only took a few steps before he stopped and looked back, looking impatient. "Oi! Did you forget that you promised Kagome you'd be over for dinner when I came back?"

Hari blinked once, twice, a third time. She had made no such promise, and Inuyasha knew it. Then she smiled and bit back a laugh. He was, in his own somewhat awkward way, inviting her over to eat with them, letting her know that she was still welcome.

"You're right, I did forget," she said, sounding appropriately apologetic as she joined Inuyasha on the ground. Sota and Kikyo weren't happy with it, but they didn't go against their father's decision that Hari was still welcome any time. They did later apologize, but from their manner, Hari could tell that it was because they had been told to, and not out of any real remorse. She forgave them, but things stayed strained between the three of them, Hari never quite letting them out of her line of sight when she spent time with the family.

When, a few years later, Kagome died of old age at age eighty shortly after Sango and Miroku's deaths, everyone who had cared about her was there for her funeral. Much like when Inuyasha leaped again and again into the well, hoping to be able to reach Kagome, Hari's presence was silent, both of them aware of her presence, but neither of them saying a word. If tears quietly leaked out of Inuyasha's eyes, Hari wouldn't tell. For all she knew, the only tears she smelled were her own.

For a week, Inuyasha hardly left Kagome's grave, barely ate, barely slept, barely did anything at all. Then, without any warning, he left. Hari wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been silently and worriedly keeping an eye on him. She waited a few minutes, and then followed him.

For several days, she followed him on his seemingly senseless trip. She never got close, only keeping him just within sight, but she couldn't help but wonder just where he was going. If he was following any path, or had any destination in mind, Hari couldn't think of it. Inuyasha made it clear that one, he knew she was there, and two, he didn't want company. She spent much of those few days dodging attacks, one terrifying time having to dodge the _Meido Zangetsuha_. Luckily for her, Inuyasha seemed to realize at the last moment what he was doing and, not actually wanting to kill her, changed the direction of his attack so that it managed to, just, miss her. The badly shaken half wolf couldn't move for a long few moments, and it was only by following Inuyasha's scent was she able to catch up to him. Fortunately for her, Inuyasha seemed just as disturbed as she was by that attack, and since he didn't want to kill her, stopped attacking her after that, seeming to resign himself to the fact that she was going to keep following him.

Hari wasn't worried about her ability to follow him until the day of her human night came. When she turned into a human, she wouldn't be as mobile or have senses strong enough to keep up with him, even with the moon's light. She was both relieved and confused when, just before sunset, he stopped for the night. Just as she turned into a human, she saw him turn towards her and settle down comfortably. When she realized what was happening, she smiled slightly. She was still claimed. Inuyasha may not want her around, but he wasn't going to abandon her on the night she was weakest.

As the days went on, Hari was still confused as to where they were going. It was when they passed by an abandoned temple, with the bones of dead demons littered around, that she understood. The bones were of spider demons. Inuyasha was making the shard hunting trip again, following the route they had taken before and reliving the quest. She couldn't help but wonder if this was healthy, but she didn't say anything. Whether by fate or pre-planing, the night that they were at the Spider Head temple was Inuyasha's human night. Much as he had done for her, she stayed the night guarding him during his time of weakness. She sighed to herself as she wondered if he was ever going to acknowledge that she was there beyond not abandoning her when she was a weak human.

The wished for acknowledgment came, but it was in a form that was unexpected. A small group of humans was being attacked by a lizard demon, much like the ones that had attacked them when Hari first saw Inuyasha's demon form.

Inuyasha leaped to help them with a short cry of "Hari!" just as he reached the lizzard. Hari moved immediately to help, but wasn't certain if she would be able to. It had been a very long time since they had fought together, after all. Her concerns were groundless, however, as she fought just as easily with him as she had back then. When the demon was killed, Inuyasha barely waited long enough to hear the thanks given before setting off, Hari on his tail.

That night, Inuyasha caught and prepared two rabbits for cooking, placing them on opposite sides of a fire before calling out behind him.

"You might as well stop pretending that you're not watching, Hari," he said quietly, not once turning to look at her. Hari quietly landed on the ground before sitting on the opposite side of the fire from him, where the second rabbit had been placed.

"Why are you following me?" The question was quiet enough that Hari barely heard it. She wasn't certain if he wanted an answer or not, but resolved to give one anyway.

There were multiple reasons she could have given. 'I've claimed you the same way you claimed me.' 'Kagome asked me to stay with you once she died and I'm not going to break that promise.' 'This is probably the worst time for you to be alone.' She decided on a different answer, however.

"Because you and I are going to be alive for a very, very long time. Possibly even into Kagome's time. And you can either spend it by yourself and be lonely, or you just accept the fact that I'm not going to leave you and actually let me travel with you instead of, as you put it, 'pretending I'm not watching.' Besides," she continued quietly after a moment, "like I told you, wolves don't do well alone and you, Shippo, and Kirara are the only living family I have left."

Inuyasha didn't answer, but he didn't move away or force her to move away either.

The next morning, he had only gone a few steps before he stopped and looked at her. "I thought you wanted to travel with me," was the impatient statement before he took off at top speed. Hari spent a moment being stunned before grinning and following him.

They spent the next few days companionably when they both smelled Shippo coming from behind them. Turning, they saw him in his favorite pink transformation. When he reached them, he undid the transformation, landing next to them. Demons aged even more slowly than half-demons, but a lifetime was still long enough for Shippo to have grown taller, too tall now to ride on either of their shoulders.

"Where have you two been? Kirara and I have been looking all over for you," he demanded. Sure enough, only moments later, a large shadow came over them, which quickly landed and shrunk down in size to be a small cat.

"Just because you're sad about Kagome dying, doesn't mean that you get to just leave us without saying anything!" Shippo yelled. Kirara was unable to speak in words they could understand, but her glare showed just how much she agreed with Shippo. To everyone's surprise, Inuyasha quietly apologized before simply telling them to keep up.

It took Shippo far less time than it had taken Hari to realize what Inuyasha was doing in his seemingly pathless trip. When he brought it up to Hari, asking if she knew, she nodded before asking him not to say anything. If Inuyasha felt he had to do this, then she was going to follow him.

"But it won't bring Kagome back!"

"He knows, Shippo," Hari sighed sadly. "I think he's just trying to remember. Like visiting a grave, he's revisiting places that Kagome touched. This might just be how he needs to say goodbye."

It didn't take long for the group of four to reach territory familiar to Hari, and she was able to help out with the group more, knowing the best places to rest and catch food.

As quickly as Inuyasha seemed to want to revisit all the places that he traveled with Kagome, he stopped inexplicably right next to the village Hari had been born in, setting up camp despite the fact that the sun was still high in the sky.

"What are you waiting for, Hari?" He finally asked just as the sun set. "Your old man and Kaya are buried here, right?" Hari stared at him openly shocked, and more than a little touched. He was waiting for her to give her a chance to visit their graves.

She wasted no time, taking the quickest route to the graveyard that still let her stay hidden. When she saw and smelled no one around, she quietly stole through the graveyard, ghosting past the graves of people before she reached the first one.

"Kaya..." The name was barely whispered aloud as she touched the grave marker, placing a flower on top of the grave before standing up. She never had much time here, and she couldn't afford to spend what little time she had now with Kaya alone.

She was almost to her father's grave when a noise behind her had her whirling around. There was someone there.

"Who are you?" It was an older man, but no one that Hari recognized. She came to a startled conclusion that she had been gone for almost an entire life time. Almost everyone who she had seen so regularly before would be long dead.

"No one," she said, grateful for the night's protection.

To her dismay, the man stepped forward, eyes widening in shock at what he saw.

"You... You... You're a monster!" He took in a breath to scream before, with a sense of de ja vu, Hari witnessed a man being pinned by the throat to a tree.

"What kind of monster doesn't let someone visit a loved one's grave?" Inuyasha growled out, eyes narrowed angrily. Shippo was there, more as support for Inuyasha's attack than able to help. He glanced briefly at Hari.

"Well? Are you going to visit your old man or not?"

Hari nodded, quickly moving to her father's grave.

"It's been a while, dad," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I can't stay, but you'd be happy. I managed to find a family." She stood up after saying this, wishing she could spend longer here but the man had managed to get out a strangled yelp moment's before, so they had no time to linger.

By the time the villagers made it to the graveyard, the three of them were gone, barely even a footprint to prove they had been there.

"Thank you," Hari said quietly. Both for stopping the man and for letting her visit her loved ones. "It'll be a delay, but there's somewhere I need to go," she finished. Inuyasha nodded and Hari took off. It wasn't a far trip, but it was far enough that it would take her until morning to visit and return.

"Hi, mom," Hari said. She was pretty sure she inherited the belief that the dead would hear her words from her father. Her mother's grave was rarely visited, a lack of memory beyond the faintest of scent imprints meaning that Hari rarely had a desire to visit this place. All the same, she sat down next to the grave her father had put so much work into making. She never had any idea of what to say to her mother, unlike her father who she had much to say to, and never any time to say it.

"_Maybe..."_ It was the barest of thoughts, one that had never occurred to her before. "Dad, if you're with mom, then maybe you'll hear me. If you're not, then maybe mom can tell you stuff for me." Slowly, she told the memory of her father, and the wish for her mother, about what had happened over the lifetimes. About Kaya, and Kagome and the others. The sun was just starting to rise when she finished her lengthy tale.

She had just turned to leave when the flash of red caught her eye. She was surprised. This was the second time she hadn't even smelled Inuyasha. Then she realized that it wasn't that she couldn't smell him, it wasn't even that she was so focused on her own grief and memories that she wasn't aware of her surroundings. She was just so used to Inuyasha and the others being there, that it was only natural that they were still there while she visited her dead loved ones, making sure that, for once, she had the chance to do so in peace.

The trip that had taken so long before took only months during the revisit, but once it was done, Inuyasha did seem to be more at peace with what had happened. Hari was right, he had had his chance to say goodbye by making the trip he had.

Kirara, Shippo, and Inuyasha were gladly welcomed back by Sota and Kikyo. Hari's presence was far less welcome, but they didn't protest. Hari stayed at Inuyasha's home with Shippo and Kirara, his children having long since married and having kids of their own.

Kikyo and Sota's quarter-demonic blood meant that their lives weren't as short as their father's was. They outlived their children, however, and Inuyasha was there when they were buried. For the first time in a very long time, Hari was again a welcome presence for them, wanting at least for a moment to be children again, surrounded by the comforting presence of their loved ones. When, a few years later, his children passed, Inuyasha again had a period of grief as he mourned the loss. With his children and grandchildren gone, and never having spent any length of time with his great-grandchildren, he again set off to travel. Hari went with him, and this time they actually traveled.

Kirara had sadly passed not long after Kikyo, who outlived her brother by five weeks, so they had to walk, but neither of them minded. Shippo would join them infrequently, choosing instead to travel on his own and get stronger with his own fox magic rather than being tempted to allow Inuyasha to fight his battles for him. All of his training had turned him into a capable warrior, and during the fights that he joined Inuyasha and Hari in, he more than held his own.

Two hundred fifty years after Kagome had passed, Inuyasha and Hari started noticing something; there were fewer, and fewer demons around. The demon race seemed to be dying out. They had just started discussing how they could survive when so many demons seemed to be dying around them when they were both struck from behind, pinned in place by full demons who were using their full strength to do so. They both easily recognized Koga, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku, but they were the only familiar scents.

"Hari! Inuyasha!" Shippo's cry as he landed in front of them had them struggling to free themselves, unsure why they were attacked like this and not wanting Shippo to come to harm. "I told you guys to just keep them in one place, not attack them!"

"Shippo! This is your fault?" Inyasha redoubled his efforts to get loose, though now it was with the intention of pounding the brat.

"To help you! Look, demons are starting to die out, you must have see it! The only way for us to survive, is if we blend in with the humans." Once Inuyasha and Hari were let up, the turned around and were stunned to see, not the demons they smelled, but humans who vaguely resembled the demons they smelled.

Turning back to Shippo, they saw him holding out two pendants. They were in the shape of fox fire inside a pentagram against what they assumed was a full moon. Around the border were the words 'human illusion' written over and over again.

"You both need to bleed on both sides of these pendants," Shippo said, handing one to each of them. "That way, they'll be able to attune themselves to you. Once you've done that, hand them back to me." Somewhat skeptically, they both humored him.

"Fox fire!" Shippo poured his demonic fire into the pendants, burning the blood into them instead of burning it off like they thought it would. "Okay, put them on," he said, handing them back. Once the pendants were on, Hari looked at her hand. It wasn't her usual clawed hand, but a human one. Turning to Inuyasha, she saw him looking the same way he did on his human nights. Reaching out slowly, uncertainly, she briefly skimmed her hand over first his ears, then her own, assuring herself that, yes, they were still there.

"It's just an illusion," Shippo said, watching the two half-demons assure themselves that nothing had changed, despite what their eyes told them. "If the pendants are taken off, it'll fade, so make _sure_ you always keep them on. But this way, you'll be able to live with humans. Here! These are for you," he added, handing Hari a bundle of clothing, and both of them a pair of sandals.

The new clothing was horrible. It fit, meaning Shippo was a good judge of size, but it was restrictive, not allowing her to run as quickly as she would be able to normally. Fortunately for Hari, she was able to wear the pants that she had under the pelt at her waist under these clothes as well, which was a small comfort to her. And both of them hated the sandals, feet unused to any type of restrictions protesting them. Hari's original clothes were placed in a cloth bundle on her back, Inuyasha's clothing similar enough to what was commonly worn that he didn't need new clothes just yet.

"You'll get used to them," Shippo assured herself. "Now you'll be able to live in villages with normal people, and I'll stay with you." Neither half-demon liked it, but they realized that, yes, they had to do this.

"So why aren't you wearing a pendant, Shippo?" Hari asked. "I needed you to immediately recognize me, and not question what you smelled," he answered, slipping his own pendant over his head. While he technically could appear like a human without one, the pendant meant that he didn't have to use up his energy.

They found a village easily enough, and the villagers were more than happy to let them stay together. There was a hiccup, however, when they tried to put Inuyasha and Hari in separate houses, saying that it wasn't proper for a man to live with a woman he wasn't married to. It was Shippo who saved them, saying that Inuyasha and Hari had saved him from bandits, and he couldn't sleep if they weren't both nearby. His tears, and the fact that he still appeared to be a child, if only just, were enough to convince them, but he wouldn't be able to pull this off for too much longer.

"Inuyasha. You and Hari _have_ to pretend to be married when we go to another village," he insisted. The comment was met with instant protests, but they seemed more token protests than anything else, protesting because they felt they had to more than the fact that they were genuinely opposed to the idea. Due to this, Shippo had an easier time than he expected to convincing them to agree to the deception, though he did sniff them both carefully to see if they hadn't become mates while he was away.

For a few years, the deception went well, though Hari was obviously struggling to appear as a normal human. It was fine for Inuyasha and Shippo. Being males, they had duties similar to what they had spent their lives doing, hunting, providing for their families, and so on. Being female, Hari had duties that were _far_ from what she was used to, leaning more towards cooking (the only familiar task), and tending to the house and other duties.

She slipped out early one morning, determined to hunt, and having slipped on her usual garb to do so. Her new clothing, however, she did take with her, planning on returning to the village with no one being the wiser.

She ecstatically took a rabbit, reveling in the freedom she felt. Knowing she was pressed for time, she barely waited for it to warm up as she changed clothing, tearing into it while it was still raw.

"Hari?" She was startled by the human, a neighbor that she had chatted with infrequently. "What are you doing out here alone?" He had a few more village men with him, evidently a small hunting party that had set out earlier than they usually did.

"I... um..." That was when she noticed, at the same time as the man, that some of the blood from the rabbit had gotten onto her clothing.

"Hari, you're bleeding!" The well-meaning man rushed over, intent on checking Hari's wounds.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch. I'm fine," Hari insisted backing away.

"Nonsense. Let me look." He reached her and then reached for her, determined to check on Hari and make sure she was okay.

"I said I'm fine!" Hari cried, jumping back slightly, barely remembering to not jump farther than a human would be able to.

Unfortunately, the leather that her pendant was attached to snapped, and it came off in the man's hand.

"Monster!" Immediately, Hari had the group of six men on her. Not wanting to hurt them, she found herself handicapped. She was quickly pinned down and then tied.

"Are the people you're living with monsters as well?"

Desperate to keep Inuyasha and Shippo from being discovered, Hari forced herself to bark out an arrogant laugh.

"As if those two weak _humans_ could _ever_ be anything like me. I travel with them only because it is convenient to me, no other reason." She forced herself to pour every ounce of disdain she had ever felt for her human blood into the word 'humans.' "Those simpletons never even suspected that I was greater than them. They know nothing, would still be clueless even if I didn't appear to be as pathetic as them."

As she was dragged back to the village, she could only hope that her claims were believed.

The sun was barely up when she was led into the center of the village, and then tied in place.

"A monster has been living among us!" Cried the first man, clutching the pendant in his hand as proof of her disguise. "We will kill it now, and be rid of it forever!" He was handed a sharp sword and walked towards Hari set on taking off her head.

Hari was terrified. Never in her life had she actually stared death in the eyes. But she wasn't going to look away. She was determined that, if this human was going to kill her, he was going to do so knowing she could see him. The only thoughts running through her mind, however, was the desperate prayer to the gods that had never once done anything for her that they believed her when she said Inuyasha and Shippo, whose pendants were better hidden from the start and therefore wouldn't have been seen, knew nothing and wouldn't be suspected of being different.

The man had just lifted his sword to kill her when a cry tore through the air.

"Fox Fire!" The blue flames surrounded them all, causing the villagers to cry out in terror.

"Wind Scar!" The powerful winds from Tetsusaiga spread the demonic flames, causing further panic. Inuyasha and Shippo, pendants gone from their necks but held in their hands, landed next to her, Inuyasha slicing the ropes binding Hari in place with one even swipe of his claws. "We're leaving!" Hari didn't need to be told twice, running as quickly as she could after them, stopping only long enough to grab the cloth bundle that held her old clothing, tearing off the restrictive clothing to allow her to properly run as she did so.

They ran for miles before finally slowing, stopping only that afternoon when they were certain that no one from the village could have followed them. Danger over, Inuyasha turned towards Hari, furious with her.

For her part, Hari had never been more ashamed in her life. Her ears were flat against her skull in submission, and her tail was as far between her legs as it would go, eyes averted entirely towards the ground. She had assumed a submissive stance in front of Inuyasha before, but even then, it was only barely submissive, with her largely looking like the confident half-demon she was. Now, she looked beaten.

"I told them you and Shippo knew nothing," she quietly said, shame and remorse evident in her voice.

"Idiot! What were you _thinking_?"

"Inuyasha-"

"No, Shippo! You're not defending this. She nearly got _all_ of us killed! Do you really think they would have believed that we didn't know anything, Hari? Are you that stupid? We would have had to leave immediately or risk being killed as well. So what were you thinking? If you were that hungry, then you could have eaten what we already had instead of getting yourself caught like a fool!"

"I was thinking that it's been years since I was allowed to _be myself_!" Hari exclaimed, daring to look at Inuyasha in the eye. "I was thinking that, just for one morning, I needed to hunt. To use the claws I was given for their intended purpose, to actually _run_ for once. Yes, you were restricted. You couldn't run as fast as you can, or use all of your strength, but you were still freer than I was. You could still run, and hunt, instead of being expected to stay in the village all the time." At the end of her speech, she looked away, fully expecting to be run off after this.

For a long moment, nothing was said. Finally, Inuyasha turned away.

"Shippo, make her a new pendant before someone sees her," he ordered.

The pendant took time to make, and Shippo set about doing so. Despite working as quickly as he could, the delicate work was still an all-day affair, and the sun had set by the time he presented the nearly finished pendant to Hari. During that entire time, Inuyasha didn't say a word to Hari, whose ears seemed permanently fixed in the submissive position.

"It only needs your blood and my Fox Fire," Shippo said. Wordlessly, Hari cut her palm with a claw, coating the pendant in her blood and giving it to Shippo. When it was finished, Hari slipped it over her head.

When Shippo and Inuyasha had settled down to sleep, deciding that they would set out for a new village the day after, Hari quietly stole out of the camp, sandals in her hand so as to not make noise. She didn't know where she was going to go, but she didn't want to risk Shippo and Inuyasha's safety again.

She hadn't gone far before a sharp "Where are you going?" froze her in her tracks.

"Weren't you asleep?"

"I sleep as lightly as you do, Hari," Inuyasha said, sounding annoyed, but not as angry as he had when they had stopped running. "Now where are you going?"

"Not sure," she said, not turning to face him. "Maybe the mountains. I can survive there until being alone kills me the way it did my mom." Her statement was met with a sigh.

"So you were just going to leave without telling us? Did you forget that Shippo and I would be able to follow your scent?"

Finally daring to turn around, she was surprised to see that, no Inuyasha did not look livid. Frustrated, yes, annoyed, yes, but not angry. To her surprise, he also looked upset at the concept of her leaving like that. Needing to actually see what he was thinking, she slipped off her pendant, gesturing for him to do the same and grateful when he did. Kagome had said once that they practically had their own language with how easily they could understand what the other was thinking just by looking at each other.

As they had been during the day, Hari's ears and tail were submissively low. To her surprise, Inuyasha's ears were also lowered, flicking back and forth in confusion and distress.

Hari's ears stayed low, but her tail raised itself the slightest bit, leaving its place between her legs and twitching the slightest bit in hope. Neither of them said a word, they barely even made a sound beyond the odd growl or whine, the majority of what they 'said' being communicated through facial expression and ear position.

"Hari? You're not leaving us, right?" The silence had been broken by Shippo, who had woken up early in the conversation.

Hari hesistated, ears and tail lowering themselves again now that they weren't needed for communication purposes, though not as severely as they had been. Finally, she slipped the pendant back on and sighed.

"No, Shippo. I'm staying." Shippo let out a happy cry, and Inuyasha relaxed.

"Maybe at the next village, we can get a house that's farther away from the village and closer to the woods so that Hari can slip out sometimes," Shippo suggested.

"We can try," Inuyasha agreed. Then he turned to Hari with narrowed eyes. "But you _cannot_ do this again. We can't keep getting caught and then having to run." Hari nodded wordlessly in agreement. She had nearly gotten everyone killed once. She wasn't going to do that again.

* * *

_AN: So this chapter _completely_ got away from me. Most of the chapters are running at about ten pages in the word doc. I spent almost all of that just getting to Kagome and Inuyasha's children. I know that it's very popular fannon that Kagome, when mated to Inuyasha, would get a demonic life-span but that didn't work for this story. And on top of that, think of the life she would have to lead. She would constantly find herself moving from place to place, never able to settle down anywhere and always losing friends that she made. And she's such a friendly person she _would _make friends everywhere she went. Inuyasha and Hari could do it, being just this side of antisocial. Shippo could do it, having already gone through similar things in his own solo travels and therefore knowing that he can't make any real connections with people because he won't be in any one place for long. Kagome is strong, but I honestly don't think that she could do that for centuries. Once or twice, yes, but that long?_

_And I know I strongly implied it, but I'm just gonna spell it out (because who really reads these anyway?). Yes, Inuyasha and Hari have slept together, multiple times. No they did not become mates the way Kagome and Inuyasha did. I know that the thought of Inuyasha not being with anyone after Kagome's death has its own appeal because of how 'romantic' it is. But think about this for a moment. This isn't one or two years he's been without Kagome. This is _centuries_. Does it honestly make sense for two young and healthy adults, traveling together 24/7, to not sleep together at least a couple times?No, this is not an Inuyasha-OC story. _If_ they do eventually become mates, it'll be mentioned for one moment, and that's it. And for anyone wondering, no, there will not be children from these two. One more (hopefully not as monstrous) chapter after this and then _maybe_ an extra 'get inside the author's head' type of thing._


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: So, here we are at the end of the story. That strangely ended up being more coherent and less one-shot-y than I thought it would be. Thanks to everyone who's read this, silent reader or reviewer and to all silent readers and reviewers in the future. I hope I've successfully managed to write a well-written and entertaining, if not lengthy, story._

_Disclaimer: Nope. Nothing is mine but my OCs._

* * *

Living for centuries comes with its own problems. Inuyasha, Hari, and Shippo were constantly moving, only staying in one place for a few decades before having to move onto somewhere else before people started wondering why they never aged. Never being able to form any real friendships, while doable for them all, came with its own sorrows. More than once they lived near and around people who genuinely wanted to get to know them and become part of their lives, and it wasn't easy for them to keep their distance year after year.

The greatest problem the three, and all the other demons and even half-demons faced, however, was the changing expectations that arose as the times changed. When the times became less war-like and carrying weapons became less and less common, Inuyasha and Hari had to find ways to keep the objects that sealed their demonic blood with them, while still keeping them hidden. For Hari, who had two in the form of her dagger and the fang she wore around her neck, this wasn't as difficult. Inuyasha, however, faced many problems given just how large Tetsusaiga was. Totosai ended up having the answer, managing to transfer some of the magic from the blade onto the subjugation beads. It had been a long time since the beads had had any purpose considering that Kagome removed the subjugation power from them only a year after returning to the Feudal Era, but Inuyasha had always kept the beads with him, making them a convenient object to be used to seal his demonic blood. Shippo even managed to place an illusion charm on the beads to make them invisible to the naked eye. While they always kept the blades with them, with the changing times, they were kept in whatever home they managed to make for themselves instead of always being on them.

It didn't take long for the need to have a human education to be pressed onto them as well. Thanks to their long lives, they had already learned much of what they needed to know, needing only instructions in the more technical aspects such as math. The older demons managed to set up several schools all around the country so that the migrant demons and half-demons could have an actual place of learning, if only because changing times required educations to succeed. Inuyasha admitted privately that, now that he himself was having to constantly study for tests, he felt bad about having given Kagome so much grief over them in the past.

Demons were adaptable by necessity, meaning that the changing times was something that they could adjust to, but there were always difficulties with blending into the human population. An accidental show of strength or agility, a flaring of demonic powers, all of them would have accidents that would need to be explained. None of them again faced the disastrous situation of the pendants allowing them to appear completely human coming off in public fortunately, but that only helped them hide, it didn't let them seamlessly blend into the population.

Just over a hundred years after Hari's disastrous incident, Inuyasha faced his own time of nearly getting them caught. It was an argument with a drunken man, who decided that he was going to start a fight with Inuyasha, and would not take 'no' for an answer. The first few blows were easily dodged, but Inuyasha quickly lost whatever patience he possessed and simply tossed the man away from him – farther than a human should have been able to given the difference in sizes.

"You're stronger than you look," was the shocked comment from a spectator. Fortunately for them all, the humans seemed willing to believe that it was simply a case of appearances being deceiving, but all three of them made sure to keep their heads down until the whispers and glances ceased.

Shippo's incident was potentially more disastrous. He used his Fox Fire to light a small cooking fire when he thought no one was watching. He was proven wrong when he was immediately swarmed by small children asking how he'd done that, and demanding to see the blue flames again. He was fortunate that there hadn't been any adults that witnessed the display of magic beyond Inuyasha and Hari, who first got rid of the children by saying that they needed to talk to Shippo in private, and then gave the fox grief over that particular stunt. After that, Shippo made sure to always carry a powder that turned flames blue on his person, just in case.

There were other incidences involving the three accidentally showing their superior abilities. Hari found herself facing five large men who intended to rape her. In desperation, she reacted without thinking, and moments later all five of the men had broken arms and gouges that came from unseen claws. An attempted mugging on Inuyasha resulted in the would-be robber needing emergency medical attention. And Shippo, the target of bullies who, in human years, were slightly older than he was, ended up running slightly faster than an average human should have been able to. Luckily for them all, the incidences were few and far between, and largely the small family was able to live peacefully and quietly in the numerous towns they chose as their homes.

Problems didn't really arise until the birth of Kagome Higurashi, and the return of the Jewel of Four Souls into the world. It wasn't planned by any of them, but Inuyasha, Hari, Shippo, Koga, Ayame, Ginta, Hakkaku, and even Sesshomaru all found themselves in the city of Kagome's birth just before she herself came into the world.

When she was born, everyone in the city with so much as a drop of demonic blood knew. Hari, at work in a secretarial position, froze in the middle of her work and looked out the window in the direction of the hospital that Mrs. Higurashi was in. Inuyasha, having the day off, stopped what he had been doing and walked outside, staring in the same direction. Shippo and his other classmates along with his teacher all pressed themselves against the window. Sesshomaru, a CEO of a small company paused mid-sentence during a business meeting. Koga, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku got up from the meal they had been sharing. Various other demons and half-demons, all at the same time, stopped whatever they had been doing in favor of staring in the direction that they felt a massive source of power coming from.

At her job, Hari's co-workers were trying to get her attention, wondering what the reason for her spacing out like that was. When she finally came out of her daze, she turned around, surprised to see a small crowd of people standing around her desk.

"Hari? You all right? You were spaced out for like three minutes just now," one of them said.

"Sorry. Just trying to figure out this report I'm supposed to be writing," Hari said, lying easily with an apologetic smile and holding up said report in evidence. The report itself wasn't difficult to write, but the supervisor who handed it to her – who she swore privately was Miroku reincarnated – had horrid handwriting as well as a habit of not giving all the information needed and requiring her to go out of her way to fill in the blanks.

"Well, next time do that at your computer or you'll get into trouble for not looking like you're working."

"Right." Hari wasn't surprised when, once she got home, both Inuyasha and Shippo asked she had felt it, too.

"I think _everyone_ felt it," Hari said. "This could be bad. We've spent too long, and worked too hard to survive in this world to expose ourselves fighting over the jewel. But no demon is going to be able to pass up the chance to get it now that it's returned to the world."

The three of them, as well as Koga's pack and even Sesshomaru, sat down that night to plan what to do. It was eventually decided that they would simply spread the word to everyone of demonic blood that the original protectors of the jewel were still alive, and would kill anyone who dared try and steal it.

Plan made, they then set about putting it into action. The names of the original protectors were well-known among demons, so all that needed to be done was to casually mention it in conversation. Hari, being the only one who was not involved in the original quest, was given that job. Fortunately, she knew of a full-demon at her job.

"You felt that power yesterday, too?" The casual question was asked over lunch.

"Yes. Finally. After so many centuries of waiting and hoping, the Jewel of Four Souls has returned to the world. This time it will be mine." The glare directed at Hari was a clear warning to not interfere.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on fighting you over it," Hari made sure to keep a friendly smile on her face as she spoke. "I heard that Inuyasha, the original protector of the jewel, is still alive and in this city. I value my neck too much to risk upsetting him. The jewel's yours if you can get it. Good luck!" Message delivered, Hari casually finished her meal and walked away to get back to work. Stealing a glance at the demon she had been talking with, she was satisfied to see his pale expression. When he jumped up and ran to a pay phone, she waited only long enough to overhear his panicked voice telling a demon friend of his what she had said.

"_Perfect. With any luck, by the end of the day the word should have spread to all the local demons."_

As Hari suspected, word did quickly spread to everyone with demonic blood, though that didn't stop a few small-fry demons from taking the chance that the rumors were just that, rumors. Luckily, the bodies disappeared after being killed or were easy to get rid of, though the few missing person's cases were cause for concern. But after a few months of being constantly on guard, the attempts on the jewel slowed down, and they were all able to relax.

Four years had passed and Hari was walking home from getting groceries, not really paying attention to her surroundings beyond casually making sure no one was attempting to bother her. A sharp female cry did get her attention, however.

"Kagome! No!" Looking in the direction the cry had come from, Hari saw a four year old Kagome run into the street after a ball, heedless of the oncoming traffic as well as her mother's cries. Then to her horror, she heard the sound of a speeding car trying desperately to stop before hitting the small child. Centuries of hunting told her that it was impossible. The car would hit.

Hari didn't think, simply reacting. She dropped her bags and ran as fast as she could into the street, reaching and tightly grabbing the child just as the car slammed into her. Hari went flying, pain shooting up her leg, though fortunately it didn't break. She had just enough presence of mind to twist so that Kagome was on top of her before she landed. She hit the ground hard, barely managing to keep from landing head-first. She wasn't able to stop her head from cracking against the ground hard enough that she was stunned for a long moment, unable to move and certain that the blood she was smelling was from her head. A glance at the shaken child showed that she was only partially correct. In her desperation to keep Kagome from harm, Hari had scraped her with her claws, and some of the blood was from there.

"Are you all right?"

"Someone call for an ambulance!"

"You're okay, miss, just lie still."

"Someone check the kid."

The concerned voices all washed confusingly over her, her mind not quite able to process what had been said for several long minutes.

"An ambulance is coming, you'll be all right."

Ambulance? Something about that was worrying. Something about her needing to get away before it reached her. Not that she could remember it. Her ears flicked back and forth unconsciously as she tried to figure out the reason.

Her ears! A hospital would need to scan her to make sure she didn't have any serious wounds. Those machines would see through the illusion without even trying, unless by some miracle the sun set first since this was her human night. She couldn't take that risk. Struggling against concerned hands, she forced herself to stand up, stumbling once when her head wound made itself known, and then again as she tried to put pressure on her badly injured, but not quite broken, left leg.

She shook her head to clear it and placed Kagome on the ground before taking off, stumbling like a drunk and badly limping, but still fast and strong enough to get out of the crowd.

"Wait, stop! You need to get checked out!" Several people cried out for her to stop, and a few even tried, thinking that she was suffering from a bad head wound that was making her confused. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Hari summoned all of the strength she had in her uninjured leg and pushed off off the ground, landing several feet away and taking off running.

Her head wound and injured leg combined to make her slow and clumsy. By the time her head had cleared enough for her to focus on the best path home, the sun was starting to set. When she finally made it home, she was feeling better head-wise, but her leg had only gotten worse.

"Hari! Where have you been?" Shippo was relieved that Hari had made it home, having started to get really worried about her. Normally he wasn't concerned when Inuyasha or Hari were late getting home. They were more than strong enough to handle any minor problems. But with Hari turning into a human once the sun set, he was getting more and more worried the later she got. Hari had just opened her mouth to answer Shippo when Inuyasha's angry growl interrupted her.

"Hari! Where the-" Inuyasha's question was stopped by an angry snarl from Hari.

"You don't get to talk to me like that," she growled. "I just got hit by a car making sure that _you_ can still be gotten down from that tree in ten years. So you can just shut up, and _get me some Aspirin_!"

Inuyasha was stunned for a moment. Hari had mentioned to Kagome once, when she was complaining about how possessive he was being during her pregnancy, that it was to be expected. Male demons were known for that. Female demons, however, were known for their tempers. Something that had impressed all three of them was that Kagome could match any female demon in that regard. Given that, there was really only one thing that Inuyasha could do; he shut up and got her some Aspirin.

Medicines were rarely used by any of them, their demonic blood making them largely useless. They were kept more because it helped with the illusion than out of necessity. But on their human nights, sometimes Inuyasha or Hari would need the pain killers.

He walked into the spare bedroom that Hari had limped into, used regularly by both of them as neither slept well on their human nights and they didn't want to keep the other awake because of it, handing her the pills and a glass of water.

"You all right?" Hari smiled slightly as he asked the question. It was obvious that it was Kagome he was concerned for, but it was nice of him to ask about her own well-being.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow," Hari said. "And Kagome's fine. The car didn't hit her. My claws got her slightly, but they were only scratches that won't even scar. By tomorrow, it'll seem like a bad dream, and it'll be forgotten by next week." She sighed as she realized something, though.

"We need to be ready to leave, though," Hari said. "I caused a bit of a scene when I ran off like that. I don't think anyone knows who I am, but we still need to be ready just in case." Inuyasha and Shippo, who had walked in to make sure Hari was all right, nodded. A few moments later, Hari groaned in frustration.

"The groceries. I dropped them on the side of the street when I saved Kagome from the car."

"I'll get them tomorrow," Shippo offered. Hari smiled gratefully and dug into her pocket to find the receipt, handing it to Shippo so he knew what to buy. The three talked quietly for a few hours before turning in for the night.

Hari woke up in the middle of the night having to bite back a pained moan, though she wasn't entirely successful and a small cry escaped her. Her leg felt like it was on fire. Slowly sitting up, making sure she was as quiet as possible and that the small noises from the bed sounded only like normal shifting through the night, she reached for the bedside table for the glass of water and pills, flicking on the small light as she did so.

She had just opened the pill bottle when her door opened and the light flicked on.

"I thought you said it wasn't that bad. Why were you moaning?" Inuyasha's question wasn't a surprise, though Hari hadn't expected him to be there. She smiled slightly in amusement. She had barely made a sound. Inuyasha wouldn't have been able to hear it through two closed doors or the thick wall separating the rooms. The only way for him to have heard her quiet sound was if he had been just outside.

"And I thought you were in bed," was her rebuttal as she swallowed the pills. Inuyasha looked away, slightly embarrassed at having been caught.

"Loud as you were, who could sleep?" Hari laughed quietly at his embarrassment, choosing to let the matter drop even though she could easily say that Shippo didn't seem to have a problem sleeping. Since it was obvious that neither of them was going to get any sleep, they made their way, with Hari leaning slightly on Inuyasha for support, into the kitchen for an extremely early breakfast.

"Do you know who hit you?"

"Windows were closed. I couldn't smell the driver. Probably wouldn't have been able to even if they were open with all the people around. I just know that the car was Fire Rat red." Inuyasha nodded and dropped the conversation.

The next day, however, Hari was unsurprised when she heard people talking about a red car that had just been involved in an accident being crushed while still in the driveway, and no one was sure how because there was nothing around the car. Even stranger, the tires were completely melted.

"_Overly protective, idiotic males,"_ Hari grumbled to herself, knowing exactly who had done it. He probably didn't even have trouble finding the car, only having to look for red cars and seeing which one had her scent. That and she knew she had damaged it when it hit her, which probably made it even easier to find.

"At least tell me you made sure no one saw you," was all she said about it, though, barely even making sure that they had answered in the affirmative. She didn't really have room for anger about it, knowing that had it been Inuyasha or Shippo who were hit by the car, she'd have done the same thing. _No one_ harmed someone claimed by a demon or half-demon and got away with it.

A week later, Hari was at work when Inuyasha dropped by, forgotten lunch in hand and amused smirk on his face.

"Oops," Hari said, gratefully retrieving it with a thanks.

"Hari! You're not on break right now."

"My apologies, sir," Hari said to her supervisor. She tensed when she heard quiet rumblings from behind her, a clear sign that Inuyasha was growling. She had gotten used to her superior's lecherous grins and roving eyes. He never _tried_ anything, but Hari was always wondering when he would. Inuyasha, however, had never seen any of her co-workers.

"Shouldn't you be going?" The hard look she shot Inuyasha was met with one of his own during a small battle of wills. Hari's voice dropped to too low for anyone without demonic blood to hear.

"If he tries anything, I'll snap his arm in two and you know that. Now get going. I can look after myself." After a long moment, Inuyasha nodded slightly and, with one last warning glare at the man, turned to leave.

The years passed in relative peace, and eleven years after the car incident was the most important day of two people's lives: Kagome was fifteen years old.

They knew what would happen. Fate had determined it centuries ago. But sometimes fate could use a hand. A plan was made, excuses given to the appropriate people to get all three out of both work and school that day, and before the sun rose on the day in question, was put into action.

Three quiet figures stole onto the Higurashi shrine grounds late at night. A well house door was opened just enough for a fat cat to get through. Hiding places were found and settled into. And before the sun was up, the final pieces were in place.

It was Shippo who had the most important, and difficult task. He kept an eye on both Buyo and Inuyasha, and when the half dog had given the signal, used his fox magic to scare the cat into running past a young boy and into a well house that he was too afraid to enter. An older sister was called to help, and in a mirror of what had happened five hundred years ago, Hari found herself having to restrain an over protective half-demon, whose every instincts were screaming at him to save the girl from the centipede demon that was making herself known and pulling the girl into the well and five hundred years into the past.

It took quite some time before the three were able to leave the shrine, frantic family members crawling over practically every inch and making it almost impossible to leave without being noticed. But first one, then another, and finally the third were able to steal away, grinning slightly in satisfaction at what they had done. Shippo and Hari stayed closer to Inuyasha than they normally would, sensing that he was upset at not being able to save Kagome, and going through her loss all over again.

The day was spent quietly at home, Hari and Shippo not knowing what to say, and Inuyasha not in the mood to talk. So it was to both of their surprise when, that night, Inuyasha spoke up.

"By now, Kagome's pulling that arrow out of my chest." Quietly, he relayed what had happened five hundred years ago, what was happening even now to a much younger version of himself and to a scared girl who was thrown into a world she had had no idea of the existence of.

And so the dinner ritual was started. Every few nights Inuyasha, and eventually Shippo, would relay what was likely happening at that moment back in the Feudal Era. Some of the stories were embarrassing, particularly when Inuyasha had thought Kagome and Shippo dead in Shippo's father's Fox Fire. Others were exciting, still others were terrifying, and a few were sad.

When in the past the group had met Hari, she was able to join in on the tales. Remembering exactly how she and the group had first met was slightly embarrassing, but the others hadn't shied away from their humiliating stories and neither would she. She related what had happened during the few days she and Kagome had been trapped by themselves, and in exchange Inuyasha and Shippo related their half of the story.

When the tale turned to the Demon of Memory and Hari's near death at the hands of her false cousin, she found herself unable to speak for long moments, reliving again just how bitterly she had mourned her cousin's death that day. Inuyasha and Shippo moved the slightest bit closer to her, offering comfort in the form of being there as she worked her way through the emotions.

During the few days Kagome was at home, and the times the younger Inuyasha was in the past, the demons of the present made sure that the junior high student was never disturbed, just as they had been doing for her entire life. The small group of people all knew, thanks to Inuyasha, Shippo, and Hari having warned them, that whenever the Inuyasha of the past was in this time, Kagome was never harmed and didn't need any more protection than his own. The bright red clothing was used as a very helpful aid, and the sight of that told the guarding demons to back off and keep out of sight and downwind of him.

Then came the miserable three days where the well had mysteriously disappeared. The three days where two families, one in the past and one in the present, both worried fiercely over a girl and her half-demon protector. Despite knowing that it would happen, Inuyasha, Hari, and Shippo all breathed a sigh of relief when after the third day, the well reappeared, with both of them unharmed and the jewel gone for another five hundred years.

The sigh of relief was the only time Hari and Shippo were able to truly relax around Inuyasha, who was having a difficult time staying away from Kagome. Hari and Shippo were having a hard time as well, but not as much as Inuyasha was. They didn't dare actually talk to Kagome, or let her know that they were still there. They were afraid that if she knew that they were still alive, she wouldn't want to leave to go to the Feudal Era. And there as a good chance that the Inuyasha of the past would never have lasted those five hundred years if he hadn't had that lifetime with Kagome. It was very often the memory of her that kept him going after his children had died. Unable to keep him away entirely, they compromised, agreeing that he could watch her, but he had to keep his distance and not say anything to her. It was difficult, but it was better than nothing and Hari and Shippo, as well as Koga and his pack on occasion, all spent as much time as possible watching over the Higurashi shrine over the next three years. All for love of one girl who had impacted so many lives in so many ways.

On the day of her high school graduation, Hari, Shippo, and Inuyasha all found their nicest clothes and watched from a distance, celebrating Kagome's success and knowing just how much she deserved it.

Then when it came time for her to go down the well one last time, they all went to the shrine, watching from a distance as she first noticed the change, hugged her mother goodbye, and then leaped in. It was a bittersweet moment for the three of them, knowing that five hundred years in the past, they were celebrating Kagome's return, but in the present, they were losing the girl all over again.

Then, to all of their surprise, Mrs. Higurashi looked directly at the three of them. And she did _not_ look happy with them.

"All right, who's there? I want to know what you are doing here and why you've been spying on us for the past three years."

Silently, they all jumped down.

"Perhaps we could go inside? It would be easier to explain things," Hari suggested. Mrs. Higurashi didn't look happy with the suggestion, but nodded her head in acceptance. Just before they went inside, however, Mrs. Higurashi stopped them by placing herself firmly in the doorway, looking intently at Hari.

"I've seen you before," she said. Moments later, her eyes widened in recognition. "You're the woman who pulled Kagome out of the way of that car. I never got the chance to thank you."

"It's us who need to thank you," Shippo said, Hari and Inuyasha nodding in agreement. In answer to her confused expression, they made their way inside the shrine and then removed their pendants.

"Inuyasha!" Mrs. Higurashi happily embraced the half-demon she had come to regard as a son, before glaring angrily at him.

"Where have you been these last three years? Do you know how badly Kagome missed you? If you've been here the entire time, why didn't you visit her?"

"Because he didn't before," Hari answered. She smiled at Mrs. Higurashi's confused look. "I forgot. For us, it's been five hundred years, for you it's been only a few. We've lived this already. Kagome said many times just how badly she missed us during the three years she was away. We were afraid that if she saw us, alive and well in this time, that she would never return to our younger selves. We couldn't take that risk. Too much was at stake, including the lives of your grandchildren. But we couldn't abandon her, either. We've been watching your daughter, making sure nothing harmed her, for her entire life."

"Tell me everything," Mrs. Higurashi demanded, sitting the three of them down.

"First, Shippo was right. We do need to thank you," Inuyasha said. "I don't know how you were able to let her leave, knowing that she wouldn't be able to come back, but I'm glad you did." He was roughly elbowed by Hari.

"It's not just you that's grateful. Kagome meant everything to all of us."

"Please. I need to know what life my daughter lived. Start at the beginning, when she first went through the well." Mrs. Higurashi anxiously asked.

So they started the tale. Again, they relived that year. Telling of how the jewel shattered. How they met. To Hari and Shippo's surprise, Inuyasha volunteered the information on Kikyo, everything he knew she had done, without any prodding. He hesitated when the tale came to the times he had failed Kagome, the times she had nearly died because he hadn't been there, but still told the woman in front of him. The dangers were not glossed over, but they weren't emphasized, either. For every account of the danger he had unwittingly placed Kagome in, there was an account of a more relaxed time. Naraku was explained to her, how he wanted to use the jewel for his own ends, and would have killed them all to do so. Inuyasha talked about the three days in the _Meido_, explaining just what both of them had gone through. Then they each told what they did during the three years Kagome was gone, one at a time telling of their adventures. Shippo and Hari had the most to tell, having done the most traveling of the three. Then the tale turned towards Kagome's return. They told of the celebration that Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Inuyasha had when Kagome returned to them, how they had another smaller one when Hari had rejoined them. They told her about her grandchildren, though Hari deliberately left out how they had turned on her only a few years after they were born. They mentioned the good points, the bad points, every question that was asked, they willingly answered. A lifetime of stories that took them several days of visiting to tell. They hesitated when it came to telling of how she died, only talking about it at her mother's insistence. Finally, they had no more to tell. A lifetime of adventures, all told to an amazed family.

"Why did you let her leave?" It had been a question that had bothered Inuyasha for five hundred years. Surely the woman in front of him had _known_ when she hugged her daughter goodbye that she would never see her again. That the well had opened itself for the last time.

"Because a mother does what is best for her children," was the answer given with a sad smile. "Kagome didn't belong here anymore. She loved us all, but she loved _you_ more, Inuyasha. She belonged in the past, and it would have been selfish of me to keep her here.

"Hari, Shippo. I never met either of you before Kagome left, but you are as much a part of this family as Inuyasha is. You three are always welcome to come here, whenever you want to." It was an offer none of them had expected, and they found themselves helpless to do anything but thank the generous woman in front of them.

"Inuyasha! What happened afterwards? You've been alive for a _long_ time! What did you do before now?" Sota's excited questions were slowly answered, the group not quite as comfortable talking about what they had lived through for the past five centuries. They shared a few of the more interesting stories, but largely the answer they gave was that they 'traveled.'

The three of them were sadly unable to take Mrs. Higurashi up on her offer to let them stay. They could only ever remain in one place for a few years, and had already stayed in this city long enough for people to start to wonder just why they never looked older. Just before they left, Mrs. Higurashi pushed an envelope into Inuyasha's hands. It was the title deed for the shrine. Once the family had all left it, it belonged to him, to do with as he wished.

As the decades passed, anniversaries hit harder than they had in a long time, the group realizing that, even though for them it had been a long time ago, to their younger selves, it was happening right then. The anniversaries of the deaths of their friends were spent quietly at home, the three of them each caught in their own private grief, and mourning the deaths in their own way. The only exception was when Kagome died. Hari arrived home with the strongest alcohol she could find, and the three of them drank until the last drop was gone, human alcohol not being strong enough to truly make them drunk.

With the last of the drink finished, they all sat in the living room, none of them wanting to be alone at that moment. Kagome had asked for them all to live and be happy. It was a difficult request many, many times. But they weren't going to disappoint her.

* * *

_AN: And that's it. Yes, I know, that was about the_ sappiest_ ending I could have come up with, but I don't think it hurt the story any. Like the last one, this chapter turned out surprisingly long, reaching almost ten pages when it strongly looked like it would be done in five._

_A few notes on things that are somewhat interesting, but largely unimportant to the story. Call it a pseudo-epilogue if you like. Shippo does not stay with them for too much longer, finding a fox demon to take as his mate and living with her. The three stay close, though, and he never once misses an anniversary of their friends deaths or other important dates. Hari does manage to keep her promise to Kagome in not leaving Inuyasha, outliving him by just over a year. With their deaths, the shrine fell to Shippo and his family, and it stayed very firmly in that family line._

_So, this story is now complete. I'll probably do the 'get inside the author's head' type of thing, but it's more just random notes on the story, nothing important or needing to be read. I hope you've enjoyed this tale, and thank you to all of the readers, whether you found this story after it was finished, or followed it from the start. You're all very much appreciated._


	6. Bonus: Thoughts and Snippets

_What's this? A title? Yes it is. I did decide to do the extra, bonus chapter, and as such, it's titled 'Bonus: Thoughts and Snippets' because it's not actually part of the story and I don't want people getting their hopes up that it is. Due to it being a bonus chapter, it is also the shortest one of the story. I hope you enjoy it, though._

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha._

Scenes that never made it to the story proper, but that I like to think still happened, as well as thought processes behind scenes that did:

Hari's Lullaby:

This was just a small scene that was going to take place in the cave. All it is is Hari humming absently to herself a lullaby that her father had sung to her when she was small. She doesn't even know she's doing it until Inuyasha barks at her to stop. Kagome gets onto him for it, as she had been enjoying the tune, but no amount of pleading can convince Hari to sing again.

The Subjugation Beads:

A small scene, again in the cave, between Inuyasha and Hari. Hari asks about the beads and, when told that no one can take them off but Kagome, asks if anyone else had tried besides him. Finding out that, no, no one had, Hari offers to try, and Inuyasha lets her. She fails, but nothing was lost in the attempt, and Inuyasha has the smallest amount of respect for her for offering in the first place.

Koga:

The initial version of this story had Kagome offering for Hari to travel with them until they could find Koga and ask if he'd be willing to take her in. When they do meet up with him, he pulls rank on Hari and immediately has her submitting to him. She eventually chooses not to go with him, in favor of remaining with Inuyasha and co..

Hari and Shippo's Bonding:

This happened more or less as originally planned, but did go through two mental rewrites. The first version had them waiting on Kagome to return home when Shippo has his nightmare. But I realized that he would probably have gone to Sango or Miroku for comfort before Hari, who was still a virtual stranger so that had to change. The second version was a village that hated demons, and if you associated with them, you were treated the same as if you were yourself a demon. It was also meant to have happened later, with the group traveling there due to a shard rumor. Both versions also had Hari saying that she was sure Shippo was wrong about the mockery he was sure would happen, and her suggesting to Inuyasha that perhaps he should be nicer to the kid.

Hunting with Inuyasha:

Just a small scene where Hari and Inuyasha go hunting together. Finding a small herd of deer, Hari breaks away from Inuyasha, pulling in front and to the left of the herd and studying them. She selects the one that she thinks would be the best choice, but after looking at Inuyasha, he tells her non-verbally that he'd selected a different deer. They have a small contest of wills, Hari certain that her deer is the best fit as the one Inuyasha chose was significantly larger, but does concede to his choice. The original story was going to be a lot more of the two communicating non-verbally, instead communicating through body language (ear and in Hari's case tail positions), facial expressions, and yes, the more canine sounds such as growls and the like. Much like when in their 'conversation' after Hari accidentally gets them caught where neither of them said a word after the pendants were taken off.

Hunting with Shippo:

Just a fun little scene very much inspired by Aryndiel's story 'Educating Shippou' which is far better-written than this little scene would have been and if you haven't read it, you should. It's the same basic concept, only instead of Inuyasha capturing a live rabbit to bring back to him, Hari instead startles a rabbit out of some nearby bushes, and then the two half-demons simply keep it roughly where it is for Shippo to catch. It's an off-shoot of the first version, inspired by another story of Aryndiel's titled 'Fox in the Henhouse' which you should also read if you haven't, where a rabbit or squirrel or other small animal is taken solely for Shippo because the group had had nothing but ramen for a week and Shippo, being a full-demon and so young, desperately needed meat in his system and was starting to become ill from a lack of it. Had brief snippets of both half-demons desperately looking for _something_ to kill for the younger demon, and getting more and more desperate each hunting trip where nothing was found. Had an even briefer moment of Hari recognizing the symptoms of needing meat from when she was younger and unprepared for the one night of the month where her demon blood was strongest (the waning quarter) and being desperately hungry for meat and only meat, during the entirety of that day (one version had it being the day before and after as well) growing used to the cravings as she got older and better able to ignore them.

Roughhousing:

This was just a fun scene. It started with Inuyasha having been impatiently waiting for Kagome to return for three days now, and driving everyone insane because of it. Hari ticks him off (this had a couple methods, one was stealing the locket from the second movie, and another was Hari poking Inuyasha in the most sensitive part of his outer ear enough to hurt and irritate him, but not enough to harm him) enough to get him to go after her, intending only to tire him out enough to give them all at least a small period of peace. Instead it gradually turns to play, both of them taking advantage of an opportunity they had never had before: the chance to actually play and not need to hold themselves back for fear of hurting the others. It was referenced in the story, but was initially intended to be an actual scene, and not just something mentioned as a memory.

Bonding with Kagome:

This scene was also partially mentioned in the memory of Hari telling Kagome that male demons were known for being possessive, though it shifted to happening later in the final version. The initial version was Kagome having just finished sitting Inuyasha and Hari pulling her aside to talk, recognizing that Kagome had completely misunderstood Inuyasha and was taking it out on him when she shouldn't have. She explains both that male demons are possessive and also just _why_ there are so many misunderstandings. It comes about after Kagome, in frustration, claiming that Hari and Inuyasha seem to understand each other perfectly when they barely knew each other. This is also when she mentions that it's like they have their own language. Hari manages to, with difficulty, explain that they _do_ understand each other, because they don't actually need words the way humans do, saying that words are clumsy, difficult, and can mean so many different things. She uses 'mine' as an example, saying that a demon claiming someone as his own can mean claiming as family, as Inuyasha had done, claiming as a mate, like Koga, or claiming as property, what Kagome had misinterpreted Hari's initial statement of her being 'claimed' to have meant.

A few thought processes behind things that were included:

Kagome and Inuyasha's Children:

I went back and forth so many times on whether or not they would have kids. First I decided against it, and then I thought 'well, maybe only when Inuyasha is human' and then I went back to deciding against it because the thought of Kagome being her own ancestor kinda weirded me out. I eventually decided in favor of them having children because I loved the idea of them naming their kids after Sota and Kikyo too much to not use it.

Hari's Human Parent:

There is a very simple reason that it's her father and not her mother that's the human. Every other half-demon's human side came from their mother, and not their father. I wanted Hari to be different. I had, admittedly, forgotten that Shiori and Jinenji were half-demons and simply wanted her to be different from Inuyasha, but it still ended up working because no cannon reason has ever been given for why a human male and demon female can't fall in love, so I made it happen for Hari's parents.

Inuyasha's Language: More accurately, lack thereof. It is cannon that he swears freely and readily. I am aware of this. I, however, do not swear, and also do not write swearing even when it's something the characters would do. I'm sorry if that deviation from cannon annoys anyone, but I just can't make myself do it.

Kaya and Hari Meet/Kaya's Ghost:

Lumping them into one category since they belong together. The reason for the just over a page (in the word doc.) of a young Hari and her even younger (comparatively) cousin was very simple: I needed Kaya to be more than just a name from Hari's past. I needed her to be real, someone that you, if only briefly, got to know. I only had a small amount of space within the chapter, since I didn't want it to take over the entire thing, for you to get to know her, so I had to put in as much of her natural compassion as I could. I know that I showed that Kaya was important to Hari in her reaction when she accidentally called Kagome by that name, and alluded to how much pain she was in when Inuyasha compared her own "she died a long time ago" to when he had said the same words, but I needed to show just _why_ she was so important, and just why Hari had missed her. Ghost Kaya was a final way of showing that, yes, Kaya had dearly loved her cousin just as much as Hari had loved her. Her childlike 'Hari got big!' and 'Why don't you have a tail?' was an attempt to show that she was still an innocent child, having died at a young age. If I hadn't made Kaya a real person, instead of just a distant memory, Hari's reaction to killing her cousin in effigy wouldn't have had as great an impact (assuming it had one at all, of course) and would also seem random and out of place. Instead of seeing someone desperately mourning, after so long of bottling up her emotions, a well-loved and lost family member, you would have just seen someone having a random mental breakdown over killing an illusion. Inuyasha's unheard words were him saying that it wasn't Kaya and for Hari to snap out of the trance she was in.

Memory Demon's Village:

The original version of this had something very much like Urasue's clay reincarnations. Both Kaya and Kikyo were going to be there, and Hari and Inuyasha would be unable to so much as scratch the other person's opponent. Being unable to kill 'Kikyo' the only way to destroy her was going to be to destroy Rentaroo (whose name I came up with at the last minute as a fun fact). The reason I decided against it was because that would just be _way_ too mean to Inuyasha. He already has to deal with one false reincarnation of Kikyo that he can't bring himself to kill, it wouldn't be nice to make him face another one. So that changed at the last second, with Rentaroo instead controlling one false 'person' at a time, and choosing Hari as his first target because, as we all know, even knowing that the Kikyo in front of him is fake doesn't let Inuyasha so much as scratch the thing that is trying to kill him. Admittedly, it is the weakest reason for an antagonist possible, simple prejudice against half-demons, but it did work for the story.

Hari's Understanding of the Inuyasha/Kikyo Thing:

I didn't go into detail on this, but Hari does now have at least a small appreciation for this now, having had to face her own falsely reincarnated loved one. Knowing that it's not real doesn't really help much. She had very strong memories, even after so much time had passed (I never went into specifics, but Kaya has been dead for two hundred ten years instead of the vague 'a little over two hundred), of her living and breathing cousin, who she had dearly loved. Old emotions and sentiment meant that, even knowing that the Kaya in front of her was fake, it was incredibly difficult for Hari to bring herself to harm the person that all of her senses were telling her was the only person who had loved her after her father's death. The situations were different, and Hari knows that, but she can at least appreciate the fact that Inuyasha's memories of the living Kikyo won't let him ignore her when she calls, and won't let him harm her or allow her to be harmed. It's not a perfect understanding, but it's more than the others have.

* * *

_AN: That's all I can really think of as far as random scenes that I wish had made it into the story proper, or thought processes behind what did make it. If you have any questions on why I made decisions that I did, let me know and I might just add it to this Bonus chapter._


End file.
